Gaelen 1

[Krasniy Yastreb]

Emblazoned with the Kaiser's name, the OLV 1 rocket stood on the launch pad. Just about every officer in the realm holding the necessary security clearance had travelled to the closed town of Novaya Sorensk, and now stood in the observation gallery of the newly revamped mission control suite. While the Ikol had been tested on a shoestring budget, its success had pleased the command in Shirekeep, who were now pumping resources into the SDI project in earnest.

After a series of 150-decibel rocket engine tests, the troublesome natives of the island had been driven out. On their vacated land was built an airbase, home to a new air defence unit that every pilot in Shireroth was attempting to join as it was rumoured to be the selection pool for candidates in a possible manned spaceflight project.

Today's launch would be the Gaelen missile warning satellite, although the real item of interest was the OLV 1 launch vehicle. Not only was it powerful enough to launch a satellite to orbit but also a manned capsule, or more importantly for the MoMA high command a multiple independent re-entry vehicle for a cluster of warheads able to rain nuclear death anywhere on Micras.

Krasniy flicked through a beaten old leatherbound dossier marked "Goskomitet po Kosmicheskomu Issledovaniyu: Proyekt Zmeya". The Gaelen satellite was essentially a duplicate of the satellite programme at the Zemlyan GKI, so much so that Krasniy and his technicians found it easier to consult its old procedure manual rather than write a new one. But the launch rocket, although containing several GKI-era components, was essentially a new and untested design.

Now the fuelling was complete, and the technicians and assembled dignitaries waited in hushed silence as the final countdown commenced. No commentary this time, only the bright digital clock at the centre of the display screens flashed out five seconds, then four, three, two, one, zero... then plus one, plus two, plus three as the live feed showed the base of the launchpad emit a blinding ball of light, from atop which the OLV 1 rose slowly but steadily. No shockwave was evident in the new, perfectly soundproofed control room, only a muffled applause from behind the thick glass of the observation gallery. Krasniy remained silent but smiled at the sight of this majestic figure rising from the flames.

The first stage MPB 1 seperated and the motors of the second stage LPB 1 exploded into life, pushing its Gaelen payload further and further into the ever darkening sky. Then a technician called out with alarm:

"Be advised unit four vibration has redlined.... now unit two.... unit three is increasing".

"Ahh crap", called the chief controller, "Standby abort condition seven".

"Belay that order", called Krasniy's voice from the corner of the room. He stood up and continued, "The mission will go on. If it blows up, it blows up. Ain't over till the fat lady".

The chief controller frowned at Krasniy's subtle reference to a certain joke made at the previous night's drinking session, regarding the technician's somewhat obese wife.

"With respect, sir", he said, "Better to execute a controlled detonation now while it's over the sea. In one minute it'll be over Kildare".

"What gives you the impression that I care one iota about the danger of Kildarians being showered with flaming debris?" barked Krasniy. "They'd only think it was some divine visitation anyway".

In the event, however, the rocket did not blow up. The vibrations ceased as quickly as they had developed, and an orbit was obtained at the 45 degree inclination on which prograde launches from Novaya Sorensk's latitude settled. The Gaelen transmitted its first telemetry as it entered its descending node over the North Raynor Sea and raced toward Babkha. By all indications working properly.