Giddeon (Silver Strand Series) (16 page)

The work progressed on the launch vehicle and the asteroid landing craft.
 
Several laid-off scientists and engineers from NASA were brought on board, and even some from the current Mars Rover mission had jumped ship.

There was still no consensus as to what the chances were that the rock would impact the Earth, and interest around the globe was not as keen on the subject as one might expect.
 
The interest was out there, to be sure, but it rarely was mentioned during the 24 hour news cycles other than for cursory updates on the progress of
Ray
,
Russia
and
India
with their respective programs.
 
I suppose people had become desensitized to any potential apocalypse with the constant 21
^st
Century barrage of information about new and deadly viruses, climate change, solar flares, terrorist alerts, wars and rumors of war.

*****

As the response to that one particular threat was mounted, Giddeon continued to divulge secrets and vulnerabilities that would make your head spin.
 
It took hours and hours of taping and recording, and every day it seemed like there was something new.
 
I spent most afternoons typing it all up and trying to rank the risks as to the likelihood of occurrence.
 
Melody seemed to have a better sense of what should rate as the most concerning versus the least, so I turned that part of the data recording over to her.

There was about a three week period where the majority of the material was elucidated, and finally, we had it transcribed, copied and bound.
 
It even had a table of contents.

When we were done, there remained one problem.

Who would we give it to?

It was obvious that none of the governments could be trusted.
 
There were so many dealings and double dealings, plots and secret alliances, that they were all out of the question.
 

The UN was certainly not an option… even religious organizations were out.
 
Most of those institutions would have been ineffectual in correcting weaknesses and properly exposing what needed to be exposed, anyway… not to mention deciding what should remain hidden.
 
Plus, we just felt there would be too many people involved in any of the large bureaucracies.
 

*****

So, we turned to the only man we really trusted at that point.
 
One that had already proven he could keep a secret.

Melody put a notice on
San Diego
’s Craigslist stating that she had found a piece of
Sampsonite
luggage at
Dog
Beach
, and that the owner could claim it if a description was provided.

That was our signal, should we need to speak in person.

The next morning, he was at our door.

*****

“
Sammpssson
!!” Giddy called out from his position on the floor before the doorbell even rang.
 
Boris and Samantha were at his side, facing the door with attentive looks upon their faces.

Melody got up and moved quickly across the living room on long legs in her form-fitting Levi’s.
 
They definitely weren’t what you would call ‘Mom jeans’.
 
I gathered up the cats and carried them to the study, where I then retrieved the binder full of printed pages.

*****

“Hello, Ray,” said my wife.

“I came as soon as I could,” responded our long-haired friend from underneath a baseball hat and behind polarized sunglasses.
 
He was dressed casually, cargo pants and a Houston Astros jersey.
 
The
Labrador
on a leash at his side whined for attention.

“Come in, come in.
 
Hello, Sampson!”

Melody reached down and petted the grinning dog on the top of his head.
 
He looked so pleased that you would have thought he had received the equivalent of being knighted, in the canine world, by the actions of her hand.
 

Raymond Bradford came inside and before he unsnapped the leash from his dog, he asked,

“Any cats in the vicinity?”

“I put them in the study,” I replied, shaking his hand.

“I think he would be okay with them.
 
He was practically raised by one…
Mooshie
… a Persian I had for years.
 
She lived to be 19.”

“
Mooshie
,” said Melody sweetly.
 
“I’ll bet she had one of those short faces.”

“Yep… that’s where she got the name.
 
So ugly she was cute… long brown hair and all of six pounds.
 
Sampson thought she was lioness, though.
 
She definitely ruled the roost.
 
But, as long as he didn’t get too rambunctious they were the best of friends.
 
Slept together on my bed for two years after Sampson was born.”

“
Awww
… that’s sweet,” said Melody.

Raymond reached down and scooped Giddy up from off of the floor and held him in the air above his head.
 
My progeny squealed and laughed.

“Hey, Giddy.
 
I think you’ve put on weight.
 
You’re a chunky monkey!
 
Yes, you are!
 
A chunky monkey!”

“
Ooo
,
ooo
,
ooo
…” responded little Gid.
 

We all laughed.
 
I’m not sure if the sound effects were accidental or intentional.
 
Hard to say, for sure.

“You want some coffee?
 
Did they give you anything to eat on the plane?” I asked.

“Coffee would be nice… black with two sugars.
 
And, yes… I ate on the plane.
 
It’s got a full kitchen that I take advantage of.
 
That’s the main reason I have a co-pilot… so I can eat,” he grinned.

I nodded my head, realizing that he must have flown his own private jet… literally flew it... out here.
 
It was easy to forget the world he lived in because he seemed like such an everyday Joe.
 
I went to get his caffeine in the kitchen.

“I love your house,” I heard Ray tell Melody.

“Kind of small compared to what you’re used to, but we love it, too.”

“It’s perfect.
 
No one needs all the rooms I’ve got.
 
I bought it when I was younger and had more of an ego.
 
It takes so much to keep up a property like that… ironically, that’s why I keep it.
 
Kind of grown attached to my staff… most of them have been with me for years.
 
Closest thing to a family I’ve got, really.”
 
He and my wife took a seat on the couch.

Melody melted.
 
“That’s sad and sweet at the same time.
 
You can always come here, anytime… Christmas, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July…”

“That’s right, anytime… here you go,” I said, returning from the kitchen and putting his cup and saucer on the coffee table.
 
He still had his hands full with Giddy there in his lap.
 
Ray handed over our son to my wife, and took a sip of the black liquid.

“Thanks,” Ray said to me.
 
Then, “That would be great!” he responded to our offer.
 
“Don’t worry, you won’t have to put up with a houseguest.
 
I would get myself a room at The
Del
… always loved that place.”

“Yeah… and, my sailboat’s right across from there.
 
You could take it out anytime you want,” I said.

He grinned.
 
“Giddeon wouldn’t mind?”

“Are you kidding?” I laughed.
 
“He loves to sail.
 
I’m sure he’s annoyed with how little use the Catalina gets.
 
He says a boat in a dock is like a bird in a cage.”

“I have to agree with him, there.”

Ray’s sailing skills were well known to most of the world, having circumnavigated the globe twice.

Giddy chimed in, his arms in the air…

‘Fly!”

We all laughed, again.

*****

“Speaking of flying, we’re making good progress.
 
As are the Russians.
 
India
…not so much, but I’ve sent a couple of my men over there to help out,” relayed the billionaire.
 

“When’s the launch window?” I asked.

“Two months.
 
We can’t wait much longer than that.
 
I’m working on some alternate methods of changing the asteroid’s trajectory that we can incorporate into the plan.
 
We’re severely limited by payload capacity, though.
 
I’ve run it past the congressional oversight committee, and so far they’re on board.”

Giddy pointed in the air next to Ray and said, “
Glitt’r
”.

The entrepreneur stopped mid-sip with his coffee, a surprised look on his face.
 
Then, he took another swallow and continued, “I’m a little worried, though, because there’s a lot of grumblings starting up about how we might be making things worse.
 
I wish I could just come clean and tell them about
Giddeon’s
revelations, but, I know that would start a firestorm of disbelief.
 
The governmental officials can be quite fickle, you know?”

I looked to Melody and she nodded.
 
I handed Ray our binder full of secrets.

“I know,” I replied.

*****

“Wow…” was all he said when he finally put the pages down.

“I know,” I said, again.

Ray shook his head and looked around for Sampson… he was at the door to the study, sitting there quite composed and smelling the edges of the wooden plane for confirmation of what he suspected was behind it.

“Looks like we have more than an asteroid to worry about,”
Bradford
conjectured.

“We didn’t know who else to tell,” stated Melody.

“You did the right thing,” said Ray.
 
He was silent for fully fifteen seconds, then, he declared, “We have to keep this under wraps.
 
Print a couple of copies, and put them in two different safety deposit boxes.
 
Then, we’ve got to get rid of your hard drive… I’ll bring it back with me.”

I collected his empty coffee cup and saucer, and brought them to the kitchen.
 
Upon returning, I looked down at Sampson and said to our guest, “The computer and printer’s in the study.”
 

Ray came over and snapped the dog’s leash back on him.
 
“I’ll keep hold of him.”

I opened the door, and just on the other side was Boris and Samantha.
 
They were sitting upright and looked over Sampson with interest, but no fear.
 
The
Labrador
whined a high pitched, nearly inaudible whine.

“Sampson… you be a good boy,” commanded Ray.
 
His dog looked up at him and wagged his tail, and then returned his attention to the felines.
 
After a few seconds, Sampson whined, again, and sat down; his tail still tried to wag against the friction of the carpet.

Finally, Samantha stood up and walked straight over to the
Labrador
.
 
They touched noses, and then she rubbed up against his front leg.
 
Her fluffy tail was in the air so high that it brushed his nose.
 
Next, Boris ventured forth and did the same.
 
Sampson smelled their hindquarters as they circled around in front of him, and then he actually licked Samantha behind her ear.
 
Finally, the cats went on about their business as if the dog was simply part of the family.

“Well, I guess that should be a lesson to all of us,” laughed Raymond.
 
If only the people of this planet could get along as well as these three.”

Melody, Giddy, Ray and I went into the study with Sampson and proceeded to record and delete information.
 

The cats went into the kitchen and ate.

*****