Overture (Earth Song) (35 page)

“
Well, that sucks,” Steve said as they stared at the blank screen.

Volant
whirred over to the doorway, open to the cool May air. Already they could hear the sounds of sirens begin to echo across the formerly quiet city. “Shit’s going to hit the fan,” Volant said solemnly. Then the President’s voice came on the television and Volant spun around to listen.

The
speech was taken quite differently by the two NSA agents, compared to the other 99% of the nation’s citizens. “What the fuck is he talking about?” Steve asked when the speech turned to the bunkers. “Do you know anything about that, boss?”

“
Not a damn thing,” Volant said and turned to look at a red coded file on his desk, the one Steve had given him days ago. “It’s some kind of a delaying action.”

“
The man is the most accomplished liar since Clinton,” Steve shook his head. “I’d buy a used car from him!”

“
Unless he believes what he’s saying,” Volant mumbled.

“
What was that?”

“
Nothing. Take off, Steve; I’ve got some phone calls to make. Oh, double the perimeter guard, right away. Also, fire off an e-mail to Washington. I want another hundred combat-trained agents down here.”

“
The troops are doing fine, don’t you think?”

“
Just do it, and don’t let anyone else know, not even the agency chief.” Steve’s eyebrows shot up but he said he would do it and headed out. Once the kid was gone, Volant rolled over to the phone on his desk. “Let me talk to the old man, this is Mark Volant. I don’t care if he’s busy, just tell him who this is and hand him a phone.”

It
didn’t take long to get results. “Hipstitch here, what do you want?”

“
Just wondering how you were involved in that load of shit I just saw on TV.”

“
How I was involved? What, do you think I wrote that speech? Not my thing, really. I’m more of a man of action. I make things happen for other people. Take your boss, for instance. He’s a smart cookie, really knows what side his bread is buttered on. I’d take a page out of his playbook if I was you or you could find yourself watching a really fucking big asteroid come down on your noggin.”

Volant
hung up and put the phone back on the desk. Then he picked it up again and dialed another number. “I’ve been expecting your call, Volant,” said the voice on the other end.

“
Boss, what the fuck is going on? Since when are you taking orders from the military?”

“
Whatever makes you think that?”

“
I just talked to Hipstitch, he all but mentioned you by name. I want to know what kind of a game we’re in and who’s in charge now?”

“
Mark, have you never understood the most fundamental truth of the intelligence world? It mimics the real world in so many ways if you just take the time to look around. Is the smartest and best skilled wolf the alpha male, or is it the strongest and most cunning? What gorilla leads the tribe, the smartest or the biggest?”

“
We have a chain of command, boss, this is a democracy.”

“
You really believe that, don’t you? Shit, Mark, I always thought you were an educated man. You’re just a god damned boy scout, strutting around flaunting your ideals, trying to prove to the world that good always prevails over evil. Frankly, I’m disappointed in you.”

Volant
almost told him he knew about the fake presidential briefing, then he considered going to the press. Then, before he could take action, the memory of all the people he had killed in the line of duty came crashing in like the tide. “If I’m a boy scout I have a lot of blood on my hands,” he thought.

“
Are you thinking about how you can use this? I wouldn’t go getting any bright ideas, Mark. The Titanic is going down fast and there’s only one lifeboat left. We’ll need people, faithful and strong people, in this brave new world.”

“
But only if I keep my mouth shut and play along, right?”

“
Precisely. You want to get anywhere in life, you have to go along with the parade. That new young go-getter you’ve got there, Steve Bradley, he might be willing to make a go of your job. Do I need to arrange a promotion for him, Volant?”

“
No need for that, I’ll do what you want.”

“
Well, that’s just fine and dandy. We’re going to start erecting some temporary buildings near the site next week.” Suddenly he laughed long and hard. “Fuck, looks like everything on Earth is now a temporary building!” Volant waited for him to get over it. “Anyway, we’re putting up some buildings. Most are storage; a few will house the people who are going across. Strong and loyal people, like you. We’ve been hand picking them over the last couple weeks. Some are those owed favors, other are ones who found out and we had to give them a ticket to shut them up.”

“
What about scientists and people who can help build a colony once we’re there? The kind of people Osgood is talking about.”

“
Oh, we’ve addressed the issue of manual labor on the other side.”

“
And what was the decision?”

“
Other countries have sent through people. I’m sure they can be convinced to help in the effort. Just be ready for those Army Corps of Engineer boys tomorrow, right? Oh, hope your healing well. Don’t know how well the others will take to bringing along a cripple.” The line clicked dead.

Volant
sat the phone back on the desk again and felt a deep dark sense of despair running laps around his guts. When he’d seen the Aries destroyed he’d known everything would start to fall apart. Now he knew that disintegration had begun some time ago, probably when Lebowski was first discovered. “Or maybe our government was just a dream that we woke up from some time ago.” Whatever it was, that thing was now doomed. All that remained was a trip down that last lonely street.

Across
the world, the news of Aries’ demise traveled at the speed of light; electronic televised light. Five billion people watched or listened to commentary as the great spaceship was smashed like a child’s toy under a bully’s foot. In space, the debris that was once Aries formed into a small grouping of asteroid-like masses that would orbit the solar system for centuries.

The
Russian Federation exploded into uncontrolled warfare. Three different armored divisions all laid siege to Star City, the long time, and once ultra-secret, home of that nation’s space program. Two of their most powerful boosters sat on their pads while scientists and technicians prepared them for launch. The Russians were digging two huge bunkers in the Ukraine, and they would be finished in about nine years. Three ancient cold war facilities, underground cities really, one in the Urals and the other in the Caucus mountains, were again filled with people. They had been stocked within a week of the discovery of LM-245. When their own Portal was taken by force, efforts were changed to preserving something of their people. Five rockets had lifted into space so far and these were the last two.

Everything
possible had been launched up to the Mir II that would be needed to preserve the Russian people. A small crew, extensive supplies, gene banks, and embryos from hundreds of species were all safely stored above the coming storm. The crew of the Mir II eagerly awaited the last two rockets prior to climbing into prototype cryo-sleep chambers.

Defenses
around Star City, while considerable, were no match for the concerted attacks of fifteen thousand men and armored vehicles. Once the defenses were breached, they rushed to the center of Star City where each unit vied for control of the launch pads. The lead elements of each division engaged in a fierce rocket and cannon fire battle over what they believed were Soyuz rockets set to evacuate selected government officials.

The
rockets were hit numerous times, though it was nothing that the experienced technicians at Star City couldn’t fix. Then a stray rocket found the cryogenic hydrogen and oxygen storage tanks situated between the launch gantries. The blast sent a fireball more than a mile into the sky and incinerated both rockets.

The
rebel troops destroyed and killed every living thing at Star City. The crew of the Mir II never received those last two supply rockets, including the last of the equipment for their cryogenic chambers. The station hadn’t been designed for long-term support of a crew not in suspended animation. They asphyxiated while trying to reach anyone at Star City.

India
and Pakistan, already at war, continued fighting with zeal. The temporary pause in the Arab-Israeli war ended and the push toward Tel-Aviv renewed. The Arab forces took Jerusalem and moved toward their final goal. The Jewish soldiers fought on with determination and the inner knowledge that they had already won survival for their kind. Israel would survive, no matter what happened on Earth.

Battles
raged all over Africa, but that was nothing new. Asia took the opportunity to settle old grudges. North and South Vietnam picked up where they had left off in the sixties while North Korea threw off its UN-imposed muzzle and launched simultaneous invasions of South Korea and Japan. The latter involved the United States as Korean fighter jets roared down on US bases first controlled after WWII. America was again the victim of a sneak attack involving the Japanese. The irony that this time they were defending them was lost in the melee. Fifty thousand Korean commandos parachuted onto the Japanese islands and the panicked people began to realize the errors of their ways in not having a stronger defense. The US forces were too few in number, further weakened by the recall underway to the States. In two days, they were forced to pull back and defend their bases along with several of the biggest cities while praying for reinforcements that would never come.

South
America was much like Africa. Warfare was nothing new there, but they lacked the means to cause any serious damage. Still, many of the wonderful cities of that continent were quickly put to the torch from within and without. Europe was one of the calmer locations in the world. Their government has disarmed the citizenry long ago so the people lacked the means to do more than riot in the streets and burn malls. The French were particularly effective in this endeavor. Soon enough the military and police arrived to put the unrest down with brutal efficiency. Most of Europe would quietly wait for the end with dignity as the military made sure it stayed that way.

In
America, the riots started in the usual places; South Central Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Detroit, and New York were a few of them. Despite the President’s promise, many were not in the mood to be patient or were simply driven over the edge by the terrible events. The military did its job without many desertions, but militia groups in the southern states mobilized almost overnight and claimed to have control of Georgia and Arkansas. Like in Russia, the Cape Canaveral NASA facility was overrun with fanatics armed with what they claimed to be liters of smallpox. Millions of people didn’t show up for work the day after Aries’ destruction and millions more missed the next day. For a week, society teetered on the edge of collapse in the greatest nation on Earth.

In
New York City, one of the nation’s largest credit card corporations quadrupled its short-term interest rate and added a 100% cash advance surcharge. Hours later, the move was mirrored by all the other major card companies. That night the US government's Securities and Exchange Commission ruled the move illegal. Americans responded by going on a spending spree. Money was being spent faster than it could be printed. Manufacturers were shutting down for lack of raw materials and distributors were closing for lack of merchandise. The end drew nearer.

The sun rose over New York City as it always had. The night before was cool and clear in the Big Apple, one of those rare May nights when you could actually see a star or two from Central Park. That night there was a new star bright enough for everyone to see. Only it wasn’t a star, it was Lebowski. The asteroid was only visible for an hour before the rising sun blocked it out. Thanks to the press, everyone knew what that bright scintillating light really was. Panic was reaching a crescendo.

Billy
sat in his now battered cruiser and watched the computerized call system on the dashboard flashing so many requests for aid that it scrolled nine pages. A newscast two days ago warned of the dangers of an ocean impact. In a high watermark of good taste, that inflammatory bit of news was followed by the nineties disaster film Deep Impact. With its realistic scene depicting the destruction of New York as the result of an asteroid induced tidal wave, a terrorist attack wouldn't have caused more panic. Since then, the exodus from New York City had begun in earnest. A two day long traffic jam was a sight to behold. Many of the evacuees hadn’t made it across a bridge or through a tunnel yet.

His
ex-wife had been released from government custody yesterday. She, her new husband, and the mayor had taken a helicopter to Albany. There they were initiating a Supreme Court case against the illegal declaration of martial law. Billy laughed at her over the phone, the sheer ludicrousness of the court case being more than he could stand. She hung up before he could tell her he was engaged. Billy doubted he’d ever hear from Trisha again, and he hoped he would never hear from Chief Niedelmeir. Seeing his new fiancé was another matter entirely.

Nearby,
Billy noticed a pair of cars he’d been watching moving inch by inch toward the Holland Tunnel. The man driving the rear car was honking the horn incessantly and lurching ahead with a squeak of tires every time he got to move a few feet. The city was full of panicking road warriors just waiting for the Schumer to hit the fan. He’d tried twice to get into the building where Mindy worked and failed both times. Where once there was only minimal security, now a pair of Humvees were parked on either side of the doorway. The soldiers checked IDs every time and allowed no one to enter who wasn't identified.

The
cars moved another foot and, again, the man screeched forward and lay on the horn. “What does he expect the person in front of him to do?” Billy wondered, “Force ahead a thousand more cars?” That first night separated from Mindy had been horrible. The gut-wrenching truth of Mindy’s dire predictions for the Aries mission were terrible to behold. Then to find her under twenty-four hour lock down was almost too much to bear.

He
began to ignore his duties, signing on shift and spending hours between the building where she worked and the apartment where she slept. Three days after she had been taken away from him he got his first look at her as she was escorted with a large group from the office to her apartment. It was only because traffic was snarled that they'd been forced to move on foot. Mindy’s friend Harold was there as well. Billy jumped from his car and raced toward her. The soldiers had efficiently cut him off, crossing their M-4 carbines like a Spartan shield wall, leaving him to ineffectually call her name.

The
second time, he was better prepared for the encounter. Instead of rushing headlong he simply stepped from a doorway and into the group. Mindy had looked over in surprise and almost squealed with delight. He shushed her and they had quickly discussed the situation. “That’s insane, I’m going to get you out of this,” he said and grabbed her arm.

She
snatched her arm away and gave him a stern look. “You will do no such thing, mister. What makes you think I want to get rescued, Prince Charming? I know what I’m doing. Not being able to see you is hard. Just the same, I’m handling it.”

“
I’m not; we were supposed to be getting married!”

“
I know, I’m trying to work on that, but it’s going to take time.”

“
Okay, try to give me a call?”

“
Impossible. They’ve taken the phone from our apartment building and watch every time we pick up the phone at the office.”

“
How can you stand it?”

“
Better than Harold; he’s ready to crack. Let’s try this again tomorrow.”

He
said he would and easily slipped out of the group. They might be good soldiers but they were piss poor detectives. Going about unnoticed in crowds was a job requirement for him.

He
returned to his duties and tried to see her again the next day. He never got close. Every time he tried he was warned away. Worse, his repeated attempts drew attention to himself and they saw him coming now. So he contented himself with watching her from afar. Today she was unwrapping some sort of food and eating it as they walked. As she looked right at him she wadded up the wrapper and threw it into a garbage can. She looked at the wrapper, up at him, and back at the wrapper. With a wink and a smile she continued on with her group.

A
few minutes later Billy ran over and grabbed the wrapper. On it was a note in Mindy’s handwriting.

Billy, I’m sorry things are the way they are right now. I’m going to make some arrangements to get together soon, so don’t do anything foolish. I’ll call you if I get a chance, but I doubt I will. It would be too big of a risk right now. See you soon, and I love you!

He smiled for the first time in days and stuck the note in his pocket. Later, he took out the note and read it again, which made his smile even bigger. With a sigh, he went back to work.

That
day, Mindy found time to corner Skinner in his office near the top of their office building. The potbellied, gray haired astronomer was sitting in his office surrounded by poster-sized shots of star clusters and globular nebulae. Through the huge window, distant columns of smoke were visible. “That’s Queens,” he said when she came in. “Hipstitch was talking about it at breakfast. Turns out a couple gangs got into it and when the cops showed up they decided they wanted to fight the law more than each other. A dozen other gangs have joined in the cause and declared themselves a kingdom. It’s only taken a few weeks to shove us back to medieval times.”

“
This is just the beginning,” she agreed.

Skinner
nodded and went, “Hmm. U.N. Peace Keepers in Uganda were ambushed yesterday, about four hundred of them. Reinforcements arrived to find their attackers already enjoying a meal of the defeated troops.”

“
Oh, God.”

“
CNN had a news segment a few minute ago on the thugs who have taken the Kennedy Space Center. We’re sliding back into anarchy.”

“
What is the government doing about it?”

“
NYPD is trying to negotiate with the gangs in Queens but the Army is offering no real support. All the government efforts are going to protect the bunkers.”

“
Those bunkers are just bullshit.”

“
Right, but the image has to be maintained as long as possible for what we’re doing here to succeed. Oh, did you know there has been a conclusion on the cause of the New Delhi blast?”

“
I thought the official position was a nuclear weapon with an experimental cobalt casing?”

“
That is the official position.” He picked up a remote and one of the posters turned out to be a plasma display. It changed to a satellite image of the now infamous miles wide crater with its active volcanic caldera in the center. “Blast yield of six hundred sixty-nine megatons delivered at ground level. We have some images of the blast, but they’re from the side and not at a good resolution. What they do give us is an exact chronology. A single Pakistani bomber managed to penetrate over the city and drop its payload over a golf course. A golf course, of all places. They were laser-guided weapons, brought down by a spotter nearby. CIA intel has confirmed this.”

“
Someone actually stood there and laser-guided a nuclear bomb onto target? That’s insane, why would they do that?”

“
They wouldn’t. They also wouldn’t bother with a spotter for a nuclear weapon. It’s the only kind of bomb where close counts, why drop
two
nuclear bombs?”

“
I don’t understand.”

“
It wasn’t a nuclear weapon.” She just stared at him. “This is only known by a handful of people; there was a Portal in New Delhi.” He punched the controller again and a blurry image showed the distinctive outline of a Portal against trees and dozens of people with cameras and other gear. Mindy noticed right away that near the Portal was a tall flag stuck in the ground and on that flag, the number nine.

“
It was on the golf course where the Pakistanis bombed?”

“
Bingo.”

“
The Pakistanis were bombing the Indian Portal.”

“
Right again.”

“
Then blast was from the Portal, not the bomb?!”

“
Three for three. Osgood has thought from the beginning that the Portal is nothing more than a huge block of plasma contained by a force field. There were curious neutron leakages that suggested more than met the eye. This blast gave us the answer.”

“
Anti-matter,” Mindy said in an almost inaudible whisper.

“
Damn, you were on a roll. We thought maybe, but the blast tossed that out. The energy flash lacked the anti-neutrons you would expect from anti-matter. No, it’s more like what we expect to find at the center of a sun. New Delhi was witness to the first close up view of the center of a star. The bomb that pilot dropped probably overwhelmed the force field and the rest was history.”

“
If the one here blew up it would pretty much vaporize Manhattan.”

“
Yep, and that’s why we have to keep this little secret of ours to the last minute.”

“
You’re fairly convincing.”

“
I need to be. So, why did you come up here to visit an old man? You weren’t looking for a lesson in particle physics.”

“
No, that’s true. I want to get married.”

“
I’m a little old for you, dear.”

“
That didn’t stop you from trying back in college. I already have a man picked out. Billy Harper; he’s a police lieutenant with NYPD.”

“
That strapping young man I saw you with weeks ago?”

“
Exactly. We had just decided to do it when I got locked down. I still want to get married but I can’t even kiss him good night with the chains on my bedroom door.”

“
I don’t know what I can do about that. I’m under the same rules.”

“
I don’t buy that for an instant, Leo. No one is writing on a piece of paper every time you take a piss. I’m working my ass off for this project; all I’m looking for is some reciprocity.”

“
Bringing him in is just not possible.”

“
I’m not asking for you to let him in; I’m asking to be allowed to marry the man I love.”

“
You still haven’t found the location of our new world.”

“
Oh, is that how it’s going to be? Do I have to trade the location of that planet for the right to get married?”

“
I didn’t say that, Mindy. You’re asking me to go to Hipstitch for a big favor, and with nothing to offer in return. Containment here is complete, regardless of what you think. I have a little more freedom around the house, so to speak, but I can’t just leave either. You said you could find that planet when you came on. How long before you strike pay dirt?”

“
I need to get more viewings. It’s only been three times. I think once more and I’ve got it.”

“
I have to say that sounds like an excuse. Is there any kind of guarantee you can offer us?”

“
I don’t think there are any guarantees left. All I can say is I’m close.”

“
Here’s the deal: solve the location and you can get married. I’ll even arrange a twenty-four hour honeymoon.”

“
I solve it, we get the marriage, honeymoon, and he gets to move in with me.”

“
All but impossible.”

“
Try?”

“
I’ll try, but you’ve got to solve it.” Leo looked down at a screen set in his desk she couldn’t see. “We don’t have a lot of time left. We’re sending over another scientist tomorrow, the real deal this time. This guys a bona fide molecular biologist and on the NASA xenobiologist first contact list. Took Osgood and me a while. We finally convinced them to let us send over someone who can help figure out this world’s biology.”

“
Get them to let me out to the Portal for the crossing and I’ll have your location.”

“
Deal.”