CHAPTER 1

The sun was barely rising over the trees as Jack pulled in the parking lot. Patches of mist were still clinging to the ground and when Jack opened his car door he could feel just a hint of chill in the air. He stopped for a moment to take in the sensations of his favorite time of day. A smile developed on his face and he was whistling as he opened the trunk of his car. After he had his bag of golf clubs, on his shoulder, he took another moment to look around.

The lot was almost devoid of automobiles. That only stood to reason since it was a Monday morning and he was at a country club. Most people still had to work for a living. Jack half smirked at that thought and then he walked towards the main club building that was not even open yet. He would get one of the grounds keepers or morning staff to let him in. Jack was no ordinary member here so why should he keep ordinary hours? Let all the other lazy bums, that he did a morning nine with, sleep in.

As he waited by the front door, for one of the grounds keepers to find the right key, Jack took notice of a car that he had just walked past. He had been so busy looking for Benny, the grounds keeper, that he had barely noticed the black SUV. There was something familiar about that vehicle too. It was not that he had seen that specific car before since he was sure he had not. It was more like the kind of vehicle it was that set off alarms. Jack was all to familiar with that style and, unfortunately, he was also familiar with the kinds of guys that drove them.

“Hey Benny,” Jack asked the grounds man, “you know who that vehicle belongs too?”

The door swung open as the man slid his key out of the lock, “oh that one sir? He said you was expecting him. I let him inside just a few minutes ago.”

“What?” Jack winced. He was now certain that his feeling of alarm was not the result of latent paranoia.

“It’s all right ain’t it sir?” Benny seemed a tad bit nervous now. He had that look of a man who suddenly saw his life flashing before his eyes. That made Jack feel guilty too. In a way Jack saw this as his fault and not Benny‘s. The club could not fire Jack though.

Benny of course had to worry about that and he quickly tried to explain, “I couldn’t figure no way somebody in a…”

Jack put his hands on the ground keepers shoulder, “you’re safe Benny.”

Benny walked away mumbling to himself but, what else could Jack do about it? He had his own problems now. After a deep breath, and a few choice words under the inhale, Jack walked in and found his ‘guest’ at the bar. When he saw who it was he let out another mumble, “shit.”

Pete Winston had a cup of coffee in his hand, a briefcase by his side, and a smile on his lips. He was busy chatting away with the girl behind the bar who, was probably, supposed to be doing something else at the moment. She was giggling right back at him and definitely giving Pete the eye.

Jack cleared his throat.

Without missing a beat Pete looked back over his shoulder. It appeared as if he only wanted to laugh more when he saw Jack standing there. Pete then pointed at Jack and winked at his new girlfriend, “got to love his pants, you know?”

After setting his clubs down by the bar room door, Jack wandered up next to Pete and took a stool. He motioned to the girl behind the bar and then at Pete’s cup, “got anymore of that stuff?”

“Yeah Cindy,” Pete said with another wink, “put it on my tab.”

That must have been an inside joke. Jack did not get it, did not laugh, but the slender young brunet sure did. At least she went off to fetch another cup of coffee and that was all Jack really cared about. He then leaned on the bar and took a serious look at his visitor, “well I could say something about your pants too, Pete.”

Instead of worrying if he had a spot on his uniform, Pete dropped a shoulder so that Jack could see the insignia on his tabs, “thought you might be talking about this little silver smudge?”

“Lieutenant Colonel huh?” Jack rolled his eyes as he took his cup of coffee from Cindy who had returned quicker than Jack liked. Then he noted, “didn’t know the Marine Corps was getting that desperate.”

“Oh come on Jack,” Pete was still light hearted. He normally was like that when women were around. As far as Jack knew, any other time, the guy was an up tight prick. Pete looked back to Cindy and winked again, “look, um could we have a few here… kind of important, you know?”

The girl did not look like she wanted to walk off but Jack’s eyes were not winking at her. When she looked back to Pete she giggled and then vanished into another room. Jack then diverted his nasty stare too the Marine, “only one reason you’d come looking for me Pete.”

After taking another sip of his coffee Pete went back into business mode, “your answer Jack?”

“Piss off.”

With that said, Jack left the bar rather abruptly and Pete almost forgot his briefcase when he attempted to pursue. He only caught up with Jack when they reached the golf carts that were parked out back. Pete might have never caught the former Colonel but Jack had to stop and unlock the security wires.

Jack realized when he was caught and since Pete was already blabbering away, Jack figured he could put the time to good use. Why drive out to the back green with a wet butt? He just tried to tune Pete out as he looked for a towel. When Jack found one he wiped the drivers seat, only.

“What do they want me for?” Jack asked with no small amount of frustration in his voice, “I’m the nutcase nobody wanted around to point out the obvious.”

“Jack!” Pete said rather sternly, “things have changed.”

Sitting down behind the wheel of his transportation, Jack then reached out and hit the start button. Before he could set the cart in motion Pete was already in the passenger seat.

The Marine almost got back up but then realized if he did Jack would be gone. Pete complained instead, “you could have wiped my seat too?”

“Who said it was your seat?”

The two men sat there for a minute and just stared. Nether wanted to be the one who blinked. Finally Jack tossed the Marine a towel. Pete did not want to move. Jack had to ask, “you going to dry your ass or not?”

Hesitantly, Pete wiped his seat and dried his pants. Jack did not attempt to leave him behind even if the temptation was there. When Pete finished, and sat back down, Jack stepped on the accelerator pedal and began putting the cart through it’s paces. Pete tried to pretend that his former boss was not attempting to handle a golf cart like it was a supersonic aircraft.

Instead of displaying his outright fear at some of the tighter turns, Pete used it, “you still miss it don’t you?”

There was almost a growl from Jack as he brought the cart to an abrupt halt, “what would make you say that?”

Pete kept on talking as he watched the man get out of the cart and start fumbling around in his bag for a golf tee. “Well you’re at a golf course and it isn’t even six in the morning yet.”

“I like my privacy,” Jack replied rather bluntly and coarse.

Pete was ready for it, “Oh come on Jack. I’ve seen those coffee machine commercials you do.”

Now Jack peeked over to his former associate, “did you buy one?”

That question actually threw Winston. Pete actually had to think about it, “um, no.” After that Pete recovered quickly enough, “look if you say no, you’re really blowing it here and I mean big time.”

Jack stood up and forgot his golf game for a minute, “is that a threat?”

“Huh?” Pete suddenly realized how that might have sounded. He was not about to apologize though, “oh would you grow up. Look Jack, this is big.”

Jack pointed rather aggressively at the Marine, “and that’s the only reason you’re not still back at the club. I’m curious as to what kind of major disaster happened that would make Rockmont desperate enough to want me back.”

“It’s not a disaster,” Pete mumbled under his breath. “Jack, unless you sign on I can’t tell you the specifics. I mean… you’ll find out in a few weeks anyway. It’ll hit the news by then.”

Jack shrugged it off, “so why not tell me now?”

Pete got out of the cart with his hat in hand, “is that a yes?”

“No,” Jack shot back without skipping a beat, “that’s a ‘why not tell me now.’”

“Never mind,” Pete grabbed his briefcase and started looking around for the clubhouse, “I told them it was a waste of time anyway. How do I get out of here?”

Jack crossed his arms rather smugly and nodded in the direction of the front gate, “oh it’s about a mile that way. You’re a Marine, hump it.”

“What?” Pete looked down at his shining dress shoes and then to the wet and slippery grass around him, “you wouldn’t?”

“I didn’t invite you out here Pete,” Jack said as he went back to his golf bag.

The tee was already planted, the golf ball was resting in place, and Jack was loosening up for his swing when Pete commented, “you remember Starlight?”

Jack looked back to the Marine but only briefly, “you mean those orbital telescopes that replaced Planet Finder? Who was that wiz kid at JPL that… you know?”

“Harry Wu,” Pete said as he strolled up behind Jack. Pete became more confident and it got to Jack. What was worse was the fact that Pete could see it and his tone spelled it out when he said, “he’s on my team now.”

Starlight was very different from earlier projects of a similar nature. Several small orbital telescopes had been lofted instead of one big one. The basic idea behind the project was that if you combined the pictures from several scopes, that were spread out, then you would get a resolution that was equal to a much larger lens. The optimists claimed that it would be like peering into the heavens with a lens that was as big as the distance between the scopes. That would make your hypothetical lens several hundred miles in diameter.

It would be truly remarkable if it worked. Jack had always had his doubts. Now that Pete was standing here Jack was starting to think he might have been wrong about that. What had they found out there? Even more to the point, what had they found that would make them need Jack?

His value to NASA was obvious. Jack had no problem figuring that part out. Ten years ago the former Colonel Francis John Kelly had piloted the very last orbital mission. Budget cuts, apathy, and a lot political crap, had put an end to manned space flight. Back then the country had still been consumed in recovering from the war and the space program was considered about as useful as tits on a hog. It was one of those bills that nobody wanted to pay.

NASA was still around of course. The US Government was just too proud to retire it. Congress had granted some tax breaks to a few private companies to underwrite the agency and that kept the pilot light on but, little else. What few missions they did now were of little scientific value. There was almost no research, no testing of new vehicles, no ambition. They had lost their cutting edge. In a word, NASA was a corpse.

Jack rubbed at the stubble on his chin and wondered if he was going to have to shave that now, “I guess it can’t hurt to jump on long enough to see what you got.”

Pete was practically beaming, “you won’t be sorry man. Believe me you won’t.”

Jack shrugged that off and went back to his tee, “Colonel Winston, I already am.”