Overture (Earth Song) (33 page)

“
Radiation fallout is negligible as well as gamma and beta waves (the second question). Finally, the peculiarities of the explosion’s dynamic yield are yet another mystery. Extensive damage has been done to the Earth’s structure directly below the blast’s epicenter that may well extend below the crust all the way to the mantle. T-waves radiating through the Earth’s core give some credence to this theory, as does the extreme and persistent volcanic activity in the region. Seismologists studying the phenomenon believe that the damage was so extensive as to create a number of new fault lines in the region. How any weapon was capable of being delivered still produced a clean blast is yet another mystery. In conclusion, the incident cannot be cataloged as a normal event and requires further analysis.”

“
No shit,” Volant said and shut down the computer. The blast and after effects were so severe even the Arabs and Israeli paused in their suicidal dance marathon. The entire planet seemed to be holding its breath as Aries approached Lebowski. NASA was keeping tight lips and only relaying the same regurgitated tripe they were showing to the press.

He
was about to turn off his light and go to sleep when he spotted the red striped tip of a classified file poking from the back of his wheelchair. He stretched out and grabbed it.

Like
most classified files, this one had a heavy fiber tape strip. Volant snatched the SAS dagger he kept under his pillow, slashed the seal and returned the blade to its hiding place. Inside he found a copy of a Presidential Briefing folder and a disc. “Son of a bitch, I forgot all about this!”

Some
hunch had compelled him to order a copy of the POTUS briefing. With a sense of dread he began reading it. There was nothing in the briefing about the Portal at all. It gave details about a crashed spy satellite that carried five pounds of plutonium fuel. The report said it would take months to clean up the highly dangerous radioactive debris. A budget of a hundred million dollars was requested.

Steve
threw in several smaller files and in those were subsequent briefings given to POTUS since the events began. The battle against the cultists was conveniently explained away as terrorists attempting to steal the plutonium, or failing that, to use explosives to spread radiation over the entire eastern seaboard. “So that’s how General Hipstitch moved in and got martial law so quickly.” There were more millions of dollars for the army. He read on to see the detention without trial of the city officials, now charged with treason and assisting the terrorists.

Volant
put aside the files and picked up the disc. There was a note on it from his aid. “Sir, please look at the frequency that files pertaining to the most classified areas of this operation are accessed. I found it disturbing.” He slapped the disk into his computer and looked over the data. His aide copied activity records from the NSA mainframe concerning files on the Portal. A short time before he’d been hurt in the fighting he checked those numbers as part of his routine duties. There had been about one hundred accesses at that point. Now the number was in the tens of thousands.

A
large number of people, people with enough security access to enter a government top secret database, had been informed of the presence of these files and took it upon themselves to climb in the bag.

“
Now who’s really in charge?” he grumbled in the darkened hospital wing. He reached for the phone and had almost finished dialing Hipstitch’s number when his hand stopped over the last button. No, think about this, he thought. The old bastard was brought here to enforce martial law. He’s either being controlled by whoever is really in charge, or he’s just a stooge. Volant put the phone back down and tried to concentrate. It’s a power play, pure and simple. The big players know the rock is going to hit and want to control who’s leaving. And that means this whole Portal Project is nothing but a front. He picked the phone back up and dialed Steve’s number.

“
What are you doing up this late, boss?” asked his new Chief Assistant. The promotion had been approved with startling speed.

“
Working; the same as you. Now listen up, I have a couple things I want you to do. Start with a search of the Manhattan area for warehouses recently leased. I’m also looking for heavy equipment companies who have new, possibly very lucrative government contracts. None of this will be in the federal registry so you’re going to have to look the hard way.”

“
What are you on to, boss?”

“
Something unpleasant, I’m sure.”

The planet Earth held its breath and watched its television screens. Pictures beamed from millions of miles away in space streamed through every set in the world. Live or die, it was a pivotal moment in human history.

“
The outgassings became increasingly worse as we closed within two hundred thousand miles,” explained the Aries commander, Major Paul McDaniel. “Damage to the ship is becoming worse by the moment.” Mindy was in the Portal Project’s small lunch room, now crammed with just about everyone in the building as they watched the drama unfold.

Throughout
the city, other people of note were watching as well. Billy was in a coffee shop with other cops while Volant was in his private room at the rehab center. Osgood and his closest scientific associates observed from his private trailer while Leo Skinner was only a few stories above Mindy in his office. None of them knew it, but they were all linked at that moment.

“
We haven’t been- - sufficiently due to the inference.” The broadcast was breaking up more often as Dr. Fogart explained to NASA their dilemma. Mindy wondered if he knew his every word was being relayed live to the planet.

“
I feel kinda like a voyeur,” giggled one office worker not far from Mindy. The woman earned a shush from Harold and a reproachful look from others. The live feed did have the quality of spying on a private event.

“
We’re just going ta’ have to shoot from the hip.” Volant liked this Billy Bob Hicks, the weapons expert; he was a stand-up guy from East Texas that he would love to share a beer with.

“
- terminal approach- thirty seconds,” said the pilot, Leesa Tate.

“
Aries, Houston, we have your firing solution on the high gain.”

“
Roger that, Houston, and- soon! Lock guidance into the firing ”

The
signal stayed static for long seconds, bringing several billion people to the edge of their seats. When the image came back it was a view of a nearly microscopic Aries space ship, nothing more than a tiny white arrow, flying toward a huge rocky bowling pin. “This view is from the Barnard space telescope,” informed a faceless announcer, “NASA informs us they have lost direct feed from the Aries, possibly due to damage from debris. They are still receiving telemetry and we will switch to the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

“
-LPT sequence is nine-by-nine,” said a ground controller.

“
Roger that LPT, data shows firing solutions have been input and targets acquired. Aries is entering her firing configuration.”

The
unknown announcer returned and a tiny inset image appeared. It was a computer generated mockup of the Aries as it appeared at that moment. The four long modules carried along its sides were opening and deadly nuclear missiles were being raised out on robotic arms. The actual view of the Aries from Barnard appeared unchanged, the distance just too far.

“
We have clear door lights.”

“
Affirmative, bays one through four show good gimbal.”

“
Roger that ECOM, we are configured to fire.”

“
The Aries is preparing to fire,” the announcer picked up. “At this moment all four of its nuclear missiles are being armed.”

“
Green light on CPG alpha, red light on DLR four.”

“
Roger that red light, override in place, we will go with backup to DLR four. Fuel cells are stable, telemetry is picking up glitches.”

“
Got that, flight, we are T-minus ten and counting to fire. Five, four, three, two, one, the weapons are firing.” Mindy shook her head at how calm they were, like playing a video game.

“
The Aries is now launching her missiles,” the announcer said for anyone on the planet who didn’t understand the flight controller. “It will only take a minute for them to reach their target. And now Aries must run for its life.”

“
Showing max burn on all outboard engines, max burn on one, three and four inboard. Inboard two is a red light.”

“
Affirmative, flight, max burn, event horizon in fifty seconds.”

“
Even though we know Aries is critically low on fuel, they have no choice. They must outrace the rockets so that Lebowski will shield them from the blast. The asteroid’s unpredictable course has made this point blank firing necessary. The incredibly dense cloud of rock debris created by outgassings is also partly to blame.”

“
God, I wish that idiot would shut up,” someone near Osgood said. All the heads in the room went up and down.

“
Look, there are the rockets!” a cop near Billy said. On the screen, four tiny white dots could be seen moving away from the white arrow of Aries and were moving toward the asteroid. At the same time, the Aries had become considerably brighter itself and could be seen moving at an angle from the missiles.

“
Come on man, blow it to hell!” Harold urged. Mindy didn’t say anything about how he had been the one saying Aries didn’t stand a chance; no one would want to hear it just then.

“
Houston, good launch!” came the voice of Major McDaniel over the speakers. There was a moment of cheering that was quickly hushed into silence.

“
Roger that, Aries, we have your feedback.”

“
We’re on the far side of the debris field now, there’s interference now. Leesa estimates we’ll make the event horizon just fine, however we were bingo fuel before this burn.”

“
Copy that Aries, we’re working those numbers now.” Few around the planet understood the term ‘bingo fuel’. Those who did now knew their hopeless plight. Bingo fuel, past the point of no return.

“
Detonation in ten, nine, eight-” the image of the Aries from so far away suddenly went black, to the howls of outrage from everyone watching.

“
The Barnard Space Telescope has been shuttered to avoid damage from the nuclear flash,” NASA explained. There was silence for a long moment before the voice returned. “We have detonation,” that voice reported in deadpan. “Clear detonation of all four weapons.”

The
uproar was so loud in her office that Mindy was surprised the building didn’t collapse. The screen lit up again to show a glowing ball of iridescent light in the sky, aftereffects of the multiple nuclear blasts.

“
Damage assessments are underway,” NASA continue to report, and then Aries came back on.

“
-orry Houston, so sorry. also tell the- ”

“
We’re not sure what Major McDaniel is talking about, ladies and gentlemen, communications from Aries are understandably broken up. Hold on, I understand they have found the ship with the Barnard Space Telescope once more.”

The
image shifted to one side of the gas cloud and sharpened to show the white arrow of Aries gliding away from the blast. To one side it also showed the unmistakable outline of a huge shining shape in the debris. Debris from the blast almost filled the view, so much of it that the view resembled a tornado. Some fluke of the gas and energy allowed the view of Aries to get even clearer, bringing out sharp details on the distant ship.

“
did our best, Aries out-” As the world watched, a piece of rock twice the size of Aries spun into the view and collided with the space craft. A tiny blossom of light appeared where the ship had been, and only the rock moved on to leave behind it a myriad of brightly spinning pieces of metal that were once the Aries and her crew.

“
We’re still trying to get a clarification from NASA on what the Aries commander was saying.” It was obvious that the announcer hadn’t been watching the feed or he would have known. Aries was gone, and the Earth was naked before Lebowski. The view from Barnard shifted out and back to show the shiny object they had glimpsed moments before. Lebowski was still there. The nuclear bombs hadn’t destroyed it, but merely given it a good cleaning. What once was a rocky, pitted asteroid was now a shiny polished thing of iron. Smaller, and infinitely more deadly.

“
Bummer,” Harold said as the TV screen went into a test pattern. 

“What did we just see?” Billy asked through the stunned silence. The streets were quiet, likely because even the crooks were watching the show. The two plasma screens had showed the live feed from space on two different networks. The whole place had erupted in excitement as it was announced that the missiles exploded. The cheers were deafening as the cameras from Barnard came back on showing the huge glowing debris cloud.

The
place buzzed with jubilant conversation as the talking heads explained how the radiation from the blast had overwhelmed the high gain radio, but they were still receiving telemetry from the craft via the low gain radio.

As
Billy was patted on the back by other cops he kept his eyes firmly on the screens. He had to hear from the astronomers to know the danger was past.

The
rest of the events unwound in stark details. Images of the now shiny Lebowski came through clearly. They could also see large pieces of it hurtling toward the Aries. A tiny flash of light and they were all dead. It was a quiet, senseless death by an emotionless killer. The screens were now blank and even the NASA commentator was at a loss for words. Those were only the first of billions to die.

“
What did we just see?” Billy asked again.

The
commentator’s voice finally returned. “We’re trying to analyze the failure,” it reportedly dumbly. “We have zero telemetry.”

“
Oh fucking shit,” someone said. The atmosphere of celebration only moments before quickly began to sour. One of the TV screens cut from the empty NASA view to a news anchor sitting in a chair. He looked visibly shaken and was trying to compose his thoughts.

“
I-I believe there is little doubt we just witnessed the horrible end of the space ship Aries, and all five souls aboard.” The image showed an inset with press photographs of the astronauts and their names below them. Some forward thinking person at the network had prepared graphics in advance and surrounded the astronauts with flowers and doves. “The Crew of the Aries, Heroes One and All!” Billy was shook by the scene, amazed that someone had actually taken the time to have the eulogy ready.

Suddenly,
his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of squealing tires and tearing metal. Outside the coffee shop, an overloaded U-Haul truck had just raced around the corner too quickly and flipped into oncoming traffic. All the cops in the bar realized that the city was no longer quiet. Mayhem was breaking out. Without another thought, Billy grabbed his jacket and ran for the door. The looting would start soon.

“
We have some information coming in from the European Space Agency,” said an announcer, making Leo put down his phone. He wasn’t getting an answer at Houston anyway. “Their space telescope, Polaris, has been tracking the asteroid LM-245, nicknamed Lebowski by the Aries crew members, since before the attack. They have just released this footage.” The screen switched to a distant view of a slightly elongated object centered in the view. A white spark was passing over the object and you could see flashes coming from it. “This is believed to be the nuclear missile launches from Aries,” supplied the anchor. As the footage played out suddenly there were a series of blinding strobes so intense the image was washed out. “Here the nuclear bombs have exploded.” The image was sped up for a second to where it cleared. “However it was possible, the asteroid had a thin shell of rock and the nuclear weapons just blew this shell to pieces. The ESA have provided this graphic overlay.” The scene replayed faster this time, Lebowski was highlighted with blue lines showing its shape. The bombs went off and the tape jumped forward to show Lebowski sans its rocky skin. “It has been confirmed, the Aries failed to destroy LM-245 and it is still headed directly for the Earth. This is truly tragic news.”

Leo
reclined in his chair and rubbed his temples. He could hear the sounds of crashing cars and gunshots on the streets far below. He knew what was going to happen next and picked up the phone to make sure it happened right.

A
few floors below Leo, Harold look at Mindy and swallowed. “What do we do now?” he asked.

She
shrugged and laid her head on his shoulder, crying. Harold went rigid for a moment, then reached up and tenderly stroked her hair. “I don’t know,” she said as she cried. The doors were flung open and a squad of soldiers marched in. At their head was a three star general that looked like he had been carved from solid granite. He moved to stand next to the TV which, as if on cue, suddenly went from its test pattern to the President of the United States.

“
My fellow Americans,” he said and cleared his throat before continuing. “I fear this is our darkest hour. We sent five of our bravest into the dark night of space to save us and they themselves have been lost. Worse, we are now in mortal peril. All is not yet lost. While we have dedicated much of our resources toward the Aries mission, we have also been preparing for potential disaster.”