interceptors were on the katsura radar, speeding toward

daedalus last known vector coordinates. it should only be a

matter of time.
"in five minutes they will be within air ~ to ~ air range,"
sokolov replied. he paused, then asked the question
weighing on his mind. "if he refuses to turn back, do you
reatty want that vehicle blown from the skies?"
now tanzan mino was thinking about the stealth
capabilities of the daedalus was the design good enough to
defeat the mig ~ 3 i s pulse ~ doppler radar? he suddenly found
himself wishing the plane hadnt been so well designed. the
stupid soviets, of course, had no idea ~ yet ~ that it could just
disappear.
"he could be headed for alaskan air space. thats what the
computer is projecting. you understand the ramifications
if this vehicle falls into the hands of the americans. "
the soviet nodded gravely. that was, of course,
unthinkable. there would be no going home
the huge flight helmet. as she watched, his open eyes
gradually resumed their focus. then he snapped his head
and looked around.
"shto . . . what happened?"
"i dont think you can handle heavy g ~ loads. youre weak
from the wound, the tourniquiet."
he straigntened up, then glanced again at the altimeter.
they were cruising at three hundred meters, smooth as silk.
and they were burning six hundred pounds of jp ~ 7 a
second.
"nothing has gone the way i planned. " he rubbed at his
temples, trying to clear the blood from his brain. "were just
buying a little breathing space now by staying down here
i think the radar noise of the choppy sea, together with all
our stealth capability, will keep us safe. but at this low
altitude were using fuel almost as though we were dumping
it. if we continue to hold on the deck, weve got maybe half
an hours flying time left. "
"if we gained altitude, " vance wondered, "could we stretch
it enough to make alaska?"
"probably, " androv replied. "if we took her above fifty
thousand feet, we might have a chance."
"then weve got no choice. the only solid ground between
here and the u.s. is the kurile islands, and theyre soviet
territory."
"but if we did reach u.s. airspace, then what?" eva asked.
"wed have to identify ourselves. whos going to believe our
story? nobody even knows this monster exists."
"right, " he laughed. "a top ~ secret soviet hypersonic bomber
comes cruising across the bering strait at sixty thousand
feet and into the usafs airspace. one hint of this thing and
theyd roll out the sams."
"maybe we could talk our way down. "
"maybe."
"theres no other choice. "
"you are getting ahead of things, both of you, " androy
interrupted, staring at the screens on the wall. we still
have to handle the interceptors from dolinsk. if we went
for altitude wed show enough infrared signature to make
us an easy target during ascent. before we even reached two
thousand meters, theyd have a lock on us. "
vance glanced at the irwr. daedaluss infrared laser

scanners were still tracking the wing of mig interceptors,

now at twenty ~ two thousand feet and closing
"it doesnt matter, " he said. "weve got to get off the deck
soon, while we still have fuel. either that or well have to
ditch at sea. "
"comrade vance, the daedalus is a marvelous platform, but
when we go for altitude, were going to be vulnerable.
theres no getting around it this vehicle was intended to
perform best at the edge of space, not down here. "
"all right, " he said slowly. "then why not take her there? use
the scramiets. we may be running out of jp ~ 7, but we have
a load of liquid hydrogen. maybe this is the moment to
finally find out if his thing can burn it "
"im ~ im afraid. after what happened when we pulled out of
the power dive, im not sure i could handle the g ~ load
necessary to power in the scramjets. " yuri paused. "the