Read Asteroid Crisis: Star Challengers Book 3 Online
Authors: Rebecca Moesta,Kevin J. Anderson,June Scobee Rodgers
Asteroid Crisis: Star Challengers Book 3 (9 page)
Sixteen
The third asteroid posed problems.
Once the crew of Asteroid Mission 3 had greeted King—Captain Bronsky slapping him on the back with enough force to send them drifting in opposite directions in the low-gravity—the mission team went back to analyzing the critical problem, studying images of the asteroid as the module hovered above.
“It’s much more complex with multiple bodies,” said Lifchez, a scientist who had also been a member of the satellite team back on the ISSC. King was surprised to see that the asteroid was actually three large pieces, two giant ones orbiting closely, touching and grinding together, with a smaller fragment circling them both, all three components spinning around a common center of mass.
“Some asteroids are made of stone,” Bronsky said. “Others have inclusions of ice and frozen gases.”
“This one just seems to be … jumbled pieces.” King said.
Lifchez seemed interested by the unexpected problem. “How do we move the pieces with an explosion, if the asteroid is already in three separate chunks?”
“That asteroid probably fragmented when the Kylarn changed its course,” King said.
“We could plant one warhead on each fragment. The separate explosions won’t have as much individual force, but each component is smaller. Like breaking a rack of billiard balls.”
“An appropriate analogy,” Lifchez said, smiling. “Except in this game, the balls can fly in three dimensions.”
Bronsky had suited up to install the explosives; Lifchez remained aboard while King accompanied the captain out the airlock.
“We’ve already received a report from Asteroid Mission 1,” Bronsky told King, sounding happy as they used MMUs to navigate down to the broken asteroid. “The explosions have detonated successfully. As far as we can tell, the first asteroid has been safely diverted.”
“Two more to go then,” King said.
“The second explosion is due within the hour. Your comrades, Cadets Wren and Park, are assisting. The countdown has begun.”
“Will we be able to see the flash of the explosion from here?” King looked out at the countless steadily shining stars.
“If you know exactly where to look, but it would be like finding a needle in a hay nest.”
“Haystack,” King corrected.
“Is that easier to find?”
“No.”
Working together, they removed the three crated warheads from the module hull. Under his breath, King hummed the Indiana Jones theme, while he and Bronsky planted the first warhead on the smallest chunk of asteroid. They brought the next container down to the larger of the other two closely orbiting fragments, where they opened the shielded crate and anchored it to the rocky surface with aluminum spikes. Half an hour later, they installed warhead number three.
“I can honestly say I’ve never tinkered with an atomic bomb before,” King said. “If my Scoutmaster could see me now.…”
“Given the instability of this broken asteroid, it’s hard to predict what will happen when the bombs go off?’ Lifchez transmitted from the module.
“The pieces should be pushed in the opposite direction of the blast,” Bronsky said.
“For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction,” King agreed. “But the asteroid chunks
might
break apart. And if those pieces hit each other, who knows which way they might fly.”
“We will link the warheads to a synchronized timer, and I will not detonate them until we have returned to the module and moved to a safe distance,” Bronsky said.
An excited-sounding Lifchez sent a message from the module overhead. “Signal from Asteroid Mission 2, gentlemen—they’re declaring success! The warheads went off as planned. The second asteroid has been diverted.”
Over the helmet radio, King heard the members of Mission 2 cheering. King peered through the faceplate, wondering if he would be able to see the bright flash. Overhead, like a tiny moon, he saw the first asteroid fragment cruising along like a cratered battleship, only a few kilometers away. The mission module glinted in the distant sunlight, half in shadow.
As he searched the starscape, King felt dizzy at the immensity of the universe around him. He saw one of the stars moving, a fast flickering light that reminded him of an airplane crossing the night sky. As the blip streaked across the blackness, he realized it was growing brighter, larger. He gave a low whistle.
“Captain Bronsky?” He pointed with a gloved finger, sweeping to the left as he traced the trajectory of the bright light.
“I see it, Cadet.” The Russian captain switched the channel in his suit. “Lifchez, are you seeing any activity in the vicinity?”
“There’s an object coming toward us, and it’s no asteroid,” the man said, his voice cracking with tension.
“What if the Kylarn detected the two nuclear explosions?” King asked. “They might be monitoring the asteroids they deflected.”
“It’s coming in fast,” Bronsky said.
The flickering fight grew brighter, dancing around with amazing maneuverability, until it came close enough that King could see the silver hull and pointed arms of a Kylarn starfish-ship. The vessel swooped around the broken asteroid, arced up past the mission module, then cruised back down again. Its rotation slowed—and white-hot weapons fire lanced out, blasting the asteroid not far from where King and Bronsky stood unprotected.
Lifchez shouted alarms over the helmet radios.
“We’re sitting ducks here,” King said. “They could blow us away. Either that squidbutt is a very poor marksman, or it’s not trying to hit us.”
“If we don’t do what we came for, this asteroid will smash into Earth,” Bronsky said.
“The warheads are planted, but what do we do now?” Lifchez asked.
The Kylarn ship blasted two more times with its powerful weapons in an obvious show of force. Then a chillingly familiar voice came over their helmet radios, a transmission adjusted to the exact frequency used by the International Space Station Complex.
“I’d rather not kill you if I don’t have to,” said Mira. “But I do need to stop you at all costs. Don’t press your luck.”
***
Seventeen
The alien starfish ship circled overhead, dashing to the other side of the broken asteroid. Mira had obviously located Lifchez as well. Just to intimidate them, she fired three threatening blasts, making fresh craters.
“She means business,” Bronsky said in a grim voice.
“I can’t believe she’d just murder us in cold blood—I thought we were friends.” King knew Mira was listening in on their conversation, so he chose his words carefully. “I worked side-by-side with her. I looked into her eyes.”
“I don’t
want
to kill you, Cadet King—or anyone else, for that matter.” The whirling starfish ship came back overhead again. “But I’ve got to consider Earth’s future, and the very survival of the human race. Trust me, I’ll make the difficult decision if you force me to.”
Lifchez’s panicked voice came from the mission module drifting silently above. “Captain Bronsky, what are your orders? I have no weapons.”
The Russian captain said, “Cadet Mira, what precisely do you expect us to do?” His voice was hard. He and King waited, their boots barely touching the crumbly surface of the asteroid.
“Simple enough. Abandon your warheads where they are, leave the asteroid, and return to your module. If you don’t cause trouble, you can leave here unharmed.”
“We are under very critical timing, Cadet,” Bronsky said.
King was close enough that the captain could see his eyes through the curved faceplate. “The clock is ticking, Mira—the timer is already set. The warheads are going to detonate automatically.”
Bronsky’s eyebrows rose to hear King’s false statement. The nuclear explosions were supposed to be detonated simultaneously, and manually, using the controls inside the mission module. Thankfully, Lifchez didn’t correct him.
“How much time is left?” Mira demanded.
King made up a number. “Five hours and forty-three minutes. We planned the orbital mechanics very carefully. Don’t screw this up, Mira. Think of how many lives will be lost.”
“I’m more interested in how many lives I’ll
save.”
“Lifchez, please prepare the module,” Bronsky ordered. “Do as she says. Cadet King and I will join you there. She has us at a disadvantage.”
“Good, I hoped you would be reasonable.” Mira sounded relieved and a bit smug. “You won’t be diverting the asteroid, but I’ll give you a chance to get away. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Nothing but the extinction of humanity,” King said, with bitterness in his tone. He was breathing heavily, trying to control his frustration.
“That’s not how I see it,” Mira said.
Switching off his helmet microphone and nodding for Bronsky to do the same, King pressed his faceplate against the other man’s. Even without the helmet speakers, the simple contact of faceplate against faceplate was enough to transmit sound waves. King shouted, “I’ve got a plan. She doesn’t know exactly what we’re doing—we can surprise her from the module.”
“Very well, Cadet.” Bronsky’s voice sounded muffled.
They turned their radios back on, and as the ominous alien vessel prowled back and forth like a vicious guard dog, King and Bronsky used their MMUs to propel themselves back to the module.
King tried to keep Mira talking. “If you’ve been watching, then you know that two of the asteroids were successfully diverted already, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“The asteroids are a symbolic gesture, anyway,” Mira said. “The governments of Earth have to see how powerful the Kylarn are. Mentor Toowun says the three asteroids were just meant to be a threat, that the Kylarn would stop them at the last minute and prevent damage to the planet, if we agreed to surrender and cooperate. Why would they harm Earth if they want it themselves?”
“They’re
aliens,
Mira!” King snapped as they reached the airlock hatch of the mission module. “How can you even pretend to guess what they think?”
“What
I
think is that one asteroid should be enough. If it actually hits Earth, it’ll cause damage—one of the greatest displays of power that humanity has ever seen—but it should be enough to ensure that our race surrenders. If people think they have a chance, and they insist on fighting back, then Kylarn retribution will be even worse.”
“Oh? Worse than hammering populated areas with an asteroid?”
Mira’s voice rose, filled with more urgency. “We don’t know that they’ll really let the asteroid hit. Mentor Toowun has already made an overture. He gave me a message for them offering our cooperation and appealing for mercy. After I’ve made a gesture of good faith by preventing your efforts here, I’ll deliver that communication to the Kylarn. They’ve got to understand.”
“Good luck with that,” King muttered.
Bronsky said over the open channel as they closed the airlock door behind them. “There’s nothing we can do, Cadet. We have less than five hours before the automatic detonation. We have no way to change it.”
After the airlock had sealed and repressurized, King and Bronsky turned off the suit radios and removed their helmets. “Now, Cadet, you’d better tell me what you have in mind.”
“We want to do this on our terms,” King explained. “The timing isn’t as critical as we let Mira believe. She copied information from the ISSC, but all she has is the rendezvous coordinates and the date of arrival. Even
I
didn’t know the exact details of how we would use the bombs until we assessed the asteroids—nobody could.”
They entered the module, where Lifchez was very agitated. “What were you talking about on the open channel? Did you really set an automatic countdown? That’s not how we planned to trigger the nukes.”
“I bought us time,” King said. “Mira thinks she’s got almost five hours.”
In a gruff voice, Bronsky used the module’s comm to talk to Mira. “How can you guarantee our safety? What do you intend to do?”
“I’ll use the Kylarn weapons to destroy the warheads and prevent the nuclear explosions from happening.”
King was surprised. “If she blasts the warheads, won’t they explode anyway?”
Lifchez spoke, a level of urgency carrying the words. “A nuclear explosion is an extremely complex process, requiring dozens of very precise actions, operated within millisecond timing before the core can release the energy in an atomic explosion. If that girl shoots at the nuclear devices, she’ll destroy them, but there won’t be an atomic explosion.”
Bronsky powered up the module’s spacedrive engines, and the large cylinder began to creep away from the broken asteroid.
Suspicious, Mira followed them in the alien ship. “If you try anything, I can still shoot your module.”
“What could we possibly try—we have no weapons?” Lifchez said in exasperation.
King drifted close to Bronsky, made sure the comm system was switched off. “Once we get on the far side of the asteroid, we’ll be safe from the nuclear explosion, right?”
Bronsky’s eyes lit up. “Yes, the bulk of the asteroid will protect us, but we will move far enough away that we’ll have time to dodge if any of the pieces head toward us.”
Lifchez looked delighted now. “I can get us to a good position within minutes! We can detonate the warheads from there.”
“Exactly,” King said with a sharp grin. “Whenever we want to.”
Surprised to see that they were cooperating after all, Mira twirled the starfish ship, trailing the mission module. King gave Mira one last chance, hoping that she would change her mind. “I wish you would reconsider. It’s not too late to do the right thing.”
“This
is
the right thing,” she said. “I’m going to save the human race. Why don’t you join
me
in my cause?”
“I can’t, Mira,” King said, rubbing his eyes in weary frustration. “Siding with the aliens isn’t safe for you, and it won’t help humanity. The Kylarn will slaughter us. Please—do not do this.”
Without further comment, Mira moved the alien ship away.
Bronsky looked at the others for confirmation.
“Now’s as good a time as any.” King’s voice caught in his throat. He clenched his hands and nodded.
Bronsky activated the controls and triggered the three warheads—just as Mira’s ship circled back toward the asteroid.
With a bright flash, the atomic bombs detonated like three instant sunrises on the opposite sides of the broken asteroid components. The flares lit up the starry field, rising above the uneven horizon of the broken rocks.
The edge of the detonation clipped Mira’s starfish ship, which had just circled high above, and the flood of energy made the alien vessel tumble crazily. The communication channel filled with static. King felt his heart sinking. If her ship was damaged, he didn’t see how Mira could survive … but she had made her choice.
Lifchez maneuvered the module away from a tumbling piece of rock.
King let out a long sigh. “It wasn’t quite like we planned it, but we knocked those asteroids spinning, and the pieces should go in different directions now.”
“Now we must wait, to see if our explosions diverted the asteroids enough to prevent them from bombarding Earth after all,” Bronsky said.
***