While the anti-terrorism exercise code-named "Mission" was underway, it was late at night in China.
On the other side of the world, it was noon in North America.
Normally, at this time of the day, most Pentagon employees would choose to drink a cup of coffee, sit in their air-conditioned office, and chat with their colleagues about important international news or yesterday's football game …
However, the situation today was a bit different.
Since eight o 'clock in the morning, the entire Pentagon was like a tightly wound music box. Everyone's footsteps were unconsciously speeding up, and every gear was spinning at a high speed.
And the reason for all of this was none other than the 'anti-terrorist drill' that was happening tens of thousands of kilometers away at this moment — at least in name.
Inside a conference room in the core area of the Pentagon, a screen that occupied almost the entire wall was playing images taken by satellite aerial photography of the Okinawa base. Even though the airborne capsules flying across the sky were just a flash of light, the mess of the landing area was clearly visible …
Looking at the image on the floor-to-ceiling screen, the entire conference room was silent. Everyone held their breath.
The video ended. After about five minutes, the president spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Replay it again …"
After seeing the Minister of Defense nod, the staff member responsible for playing the film took a deep breath and pressed the button.
The image on the screen began to replay.
From the airborne capsules breaking through the atmosphere to the explosion of smoke as they approached the ground, to the mess on the ground when the smoke dissipated, everyone sitting in the conference room saw this.
Even though they were separated by tens of thousands of miles, even though they were separated by a screen, many people could still smell the faint, threatening smell of gunpowder …
NASA Director Carson opened his mouth and spoke.
"Sh * t! Anti-terrorism exercise … What kind of terrorists would need this kind of equipment? "
Of course, this sentence was said in an angry tone.
But for some reason, after he said that, the entire conference room suddenly fell silent. Several senior officials, including the president, looked at each other and were speechless.
Director Carson noticed the unnatural silence and paused for a second. He then realized that there was something wrong with his words, so he quickly shut his mouth.
The silence lasted for a long time and was finally broken by the Chief of Staff Kevin's cough.
"The people inside were not smashed into minced meat. This is too illogical …"
The Pentagon aerospace expert pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and said, "The airborne capsule broke through the low-altitude area very quickly, but the speed at the end of its approach to the surface was actually not that fast. The explosion effect was not caused by the impact. It was probably a suppressive weapon released by the airborne capsule when it approached the surface area … something like a cluster bomb, and the smoke —"
The president interrupted the aerospace expert's speech.
"Is the detailed analysis report out? It's about equipment appraisal. "
The Pentagon's Secretary of Defense and the Intelligence Officer exchanged glances and nodded.
"He just came out …"
Without waiting for a long time, a report was quickly sent to the conference room.
The president took the report from the secretary's hands and began to read it line by line.
Time quickly passed by.
Everyone was waiting for him to finish reading the report.
Kevin, who was sitting next to him, secretly glanced at the president. He didn't know if it was an illusion, but he felt like the president's index finger was trembling uncontrollably.
In fact, he was right.
Even the president himself didn't know how to express the shock he felt at this moment.
Half an hour in space, less than 20 minutes on the ground.
In theory, this force could ignore all geographical obstacles and be deployed to any corner of the world within an hour. Whether it was the snow-covered Arctic, the jungle-covered tropical rainforest, or the White House and the Pentagon surrounded by steel forests …
In this world, there was no place that was truly safe. Maybe one day, while he was in a meeting in his office, a few large holes were smashed in the ceiling. These were all possibilities.
And most importantly, these paratroopers could easily bypass the legal airspace of all countries!
This is a bit scary …
Because the president didn't speak for a long time, the conference room fell into an argument.
"It's time to develop a strict international convention to restrict these evil weapons. We should change the altitude of the airspace to the synchronous orbit! And expand the international treaty that prohibits unconventional weapons from entering outer space to the scope of conventional weapons! Not even a single bullet! "
"Are you crazy? Our recognized airspace altitude is only 35 kilometers! Who the hell are we restricting? And even if we continue to increase the airspace altitude, can our missiles threaten their spacecraft? If we can't do it, other than embarrassing us, what's the difference between this kind of convention and a piece of paper? "
The height of the airspace was not strictly defined by international law; it was only a convention. Generally speaking, countries recognized the lowest limit of a satellite as their airspace altitude. The situation of the United States was more special. The highest limit of an airplane was 35 kilometers. After all, they had some technology that could exceed the theoretical maximum flight limit of 35 kilometers. Naturally, they hoped to be able to "legally" fly some special aircraft into the airspace of other countries.
However, beyond 110 kilometers, even if they developed an international convention to restrict the airspace, it didn't make much sense.
Even if advanced anti-aircraft radars could detect aircraft activities in this area, the means to restrict this area was quite limited.
Forget about the spacecraft.
In such a high airspace, it required a certain amount of luck and timing to hit a "relatively fixed" satellite.
Stop the orbital airborne soldiers from parachuting?
In such a high airspace, it was easier to dream.
"… Are we just going to watch them hang the Sword of Damocles above our heads? This is a provocation by the China. I suggest we respond strongly! "
"This will not help to alleviate regional tension, it will only exacerbate the crisis!"
"Exacerbate the crisis? Just appease them? I think the root of the problem is always being too weak! "
The conference room was in a mess. The hawks and doves, as well as the middle between the two sides, were all arguing.
"Enough!"
An angry roar interrupted the debate in the conference room.
The president slapped the report in his hand on the desk. His chest was heaving violently. He looked around the silent conference room and finally looked at his chief of staff.
He then spoke, "Kevin, I want to hear your opinion."
Faced with the president's question, Kevin went silent for a while.
"… Their military exercise may not be aimed at us."
"According to the information collected by the CIB, this military exercise is likely to be a crisis rehearsal for Professor Lu's visit to St. Petersburg in August. The assumption is that in the event of an accident, the troops can respond as quickly as possible."
The Secretary of Defense frowned.
"Visit Russia?"
Kevin nodded.
"Yeah, apparently he's going to St. Petersburg to participate in the ICM conference."
Secretary of Defense: "…"
Pentagon officials: "…"
Even though he could understand why China valued that scholar so much, using a military exercise to protect an academic conference …
He didn't know what to say about such a big deal.
Looking at the silent president, Kevin continued to express his opinion.
"According to the CIB's report, this is indeed a good opportunity. Not only can we get rid of a problem, but we can also worsen the relationship between the two countries … But my suggestion is that before we get more detailed information about their orbital airborne system, it is better to exercise restraint and be cautious."
"I don't need you to tell me that." The president changed his sitting posture and noticed that everyone was looking at him. He suddenly thought of something and added a sentence after this sentence.
"Of course, just in case, I'll call our CIB director later."
At least half of the people in the conference room breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he was one of the people who heaved a sigh of relief, Kevin didn't show a relieved expression on his face. Instead, he was filled with helplessness.
After the Cold War era, the pattern of one superpower and many strong countries had been established. It had always been other countries that acted according to their wishes. Since when did it become their turn to temporarily avoid the sharp edge?
He smiled bitterly and nodded heavily.
"That would be best …"
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