by Bobby Akart
“Sir, the opportunity to study, mine, and possibly establish a space station on IM86 is too great an opportunity to pass up,” relied Ashford. “The scientific advances to be gained could change the course of history. The economic boom to our country would change the lives of every American. And my proposal also solves the task at hand, which is to divert the asteroid from Earth’s path.”
“So you want to send up a team of scientists and asteroid miners, land on this beast, and then what? Capture it or paint it?”
“Sir, I believe painting the asteroid can be done quickly and effectively. Because of its size, the capture or slingshot method may be hampered by time constraints. I believe NASA is capable of doing both with the proper equipment and a team of at least ten astronauts.”
The president smiled. “Thank you, Mr. Undersecretary. I’d like you to prepare a detailed proposal for my review by tomorrow morning. In fact, you need to coordinate this with my chief of staff, who will make this an interagency project. I want America to see a level of cooperation in Washington that was unimaginable after decades of political rancor.”
“Thank you, Mr. President. I’ll make sure it’s thorough.”
“Good. Now, Director Hapwell, again, thank you for your patience in allowing me to gather information about Undersecretary Ashford’s concept. I’ve gathered that you’re convinced there’s a better course of action.”
“Yes, sir, in a word—nuke it. Okay, that’s two words. But under these circumstances, there is simply no better option.”
“Okay, Director, I understand where you’re coming from. Are we talking a Bruce Willis, Armageddon-style drilling operation where a nuclear device is inserted into the core?”
Hapwell chuckled. While scriptwriters had done a good job of creating an interesting story, the science behind their destruction was completely wrong.
She explained, “To be honest, Mr. President, dropping a nuclear weapon in a hole won’t be enough. Asteroids are harder to break up than we previously thought. A Johns Hopkins study used a new computer modeling method and, as a result of their analysis, our understanding of space rock fracturing has changed.
“For decades, we believed the larger the object, the more easily it would break. Larger asteroids are more likely to have flaws in their structure, providing weaknesses that can be attacked. The study revealed the composition of many asteroids, as was indicated earlier, is metal. The amount of energy required to shatter or even fracture an asteroid into pieces is much greater. In addition, the point of impact, that precise location upon the asteroid’s surface, has been deemed far more important than our prior theories. In other words, you can’t just broadside the asteroid with a nuke and expect to make a difference. We have to be much more precise.”
“Obviously, it’s still possible or you wouldn’t be suggesting it,” interjected Fielding.
“That’s correct. Because we don’t have time to send an unmanned probe to survey the surface and obtain a more precise analysis of IM86’s composition, it will have to be done by an orbiting spacecraft that is also capable of delivering precise nuclear payloads at pressure points identified by the team.”
“You said pressure points, as in plural, am I correct?” asked the president.
“Yes, sir. At a mile and a half wide, to ensure success, multiple detonations would be necessary to force the asteroid off trajectory and fracture it sufficiently to keep its gravitational pull from drawing the debris back together.”
“What?” asked Fielding. “Are you saying we could blow it up only to have it reconstitute and stay on course?”
“Based upon the size and gravitational strength of the asteroid’s core, any fragments would either become part of IM86’s tail, a phenomenon in and of itself, or it could reform, albeit loosely.”
“Then what?” asked the president.
“Well, sir, the remains of the asteroid should modify its trajectory, slow its approach, or be sufficiently obliterated that most of the debris will burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere upon entry.”
“Therein lies the rub, to quote Hamlet,” interjected Ashford. “Director Hapwell’s approach, while the preferred option of the Chinese and Russians, as well as those at NASA who’ve spent countless millions of dollars creating the DART mission, has inherent flaws. For example, if insufficient energy in the form of nuclear payloads is used, then there will be little effect other than to create a debris field that will spread far and wide across the Northern Hemisphere. I’d liken it to trying to dodge a shotgun blast of #10 bird shot that contains eight hundred or so pellets versus a single bullet.”
“Yes, pellets that should burn up in our atmosphere for the most part,” countered Hapwell.
“And destroy half the satellites in low-Earth orbit in the process,” argued Ashford.
Hapwell took a deep breath and exhaled. “Mr. President, our planet has been hit by space rocks throughout its existence. Smaller impacts, bird shot, to use Mr. Ashford’s analogy, didn’t destroy the dinosaurs. The proverbial big one, the planet killer, did. I’d submit that we can pick up the pieces after an asteroid scatters throughout the Northern Hemisphere, but we might not be alive to rebuild after IM86 hits us in its present form.”
The president paused for a moment and studied the faces of the attendees. Everyone understood the magnitude of his decision. He took a deep breath and then addressed Hapwell.
“Let me ask one more thing regarding the nuclear approach,” began the president, who suddenly stopped to think before continuing. He took a deep breath and then spoke. “As to this bird shot that the Undersecretary refers to, this large amount of debris, is it possible to calculate the moment of attack on this asteroid to ensure the remnants of IM86, if any, struck Earth to minimize the effect on the United States?”
The president stared at Hapwell, and she could feel the eyes of the other attendees darting around the room to one another before becoming singularly focused on her response. His question was subtle in its meaning, but the ramifications of her answer certainly portended doom for some parts of the world. She chose a simple answer without elaboration, hoping that what he was suggesting never came to pass.
“Yes, sir, it is possible.”
PART THREE
ASTROMETRY
Identification Number: 2029 IM86
Right Ascension: 19 hours 25 minutes 52.6 seconds
Declination: -26 degrees 25 minutes 55 seconds
Greatest Elongation: 69.6 degrees
Nominal Distance from Earth: 0.558 Astronomical Units
Relative Velocity: 28,309 meters per second
Chapter 32
Saturday, April 7
Sea of Japan
Flying around the world wasn’t easy on the human body. While Bear and Cam slept through most of the trips, which included stops at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, and then Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Gunner thought back on his career and some of the operations he’d led.
Most Americans were familiar with Navy SEALs and Delta Force, largely because of their portrayal in movies and television shows. The Air Force special tactics units were different in that they incorporated an element of air combat into their operations. Because the airmen who were chosen to be part of the Air Force special operations required specialized training, their career path was quite different than Delta and the SEAL teams.
Gunner, in particular, was an anomaly in the U.S. armed forces. With an advanced degree in Earth science, he could’ve been hired in either the private sector with a large oil company, or in the aviation industry, or the public sector with agencies such as NASA or the Defense Department.
He’d opted to follow his family’s chosen career—the Air Force. Initially, the Air Force tried to fit Gunner into the box that made sense for them. The Special Tactics squads at Hurlburt Field trained in everything from free-fall parachuting procedures to deep-sea diving as part of the combat divers’ school in Key West.
Gunner, who was always a quick lear
ner, suddenly found himself on a fast track within the USAF’s ranks. Colonel Smith, as Gunner’s commander, recognized his prize recruit’s drive and capabilities. He pushed him to learn all aspects of Air Force Special Tactics, including combat skills. Ghost, as he’d been referred to around Hurlburt Field, even went to his superiors at the Pentagon to request that Gunner be exempt from the normal timetables for his training. The military had always been regimented, by design, but the courses were developed for the average airmen. Gunner was anything but average.
The decades of the eighties and nineties in the prior century had changed the direction of war. Battles were increasingly fought in cyber space, and the days of ground combat were numbered. With the dawn of the new millennia, a new breed of soldier was required by the nation’s military. They were required to be more cerebral, many with college educations. The battles were fought with computers and drones. The days of the infantry grunt were numbered.
With this change in warfare toward the end of the twentieth century, U.S. government agencies became increasingly reliant upon seasoned veterans to join special operations units to be inserted into specific hot spots around the world.
Political assassinations, disabling critical infrastructure, or generally disrupting a government’s operations to create instability became just as important as tank warfare. Also, air combat became increasingly relied upon to gain advantage over an adversary. Capable fighter pilots were sought after by all branches of the service, especially the Air Force.
When Gunner had entered the gates at Hurlburt Field, Ghost immediately saw an opportunity to create an invaluable weapon, a human asset, that his nation could rely upon to perform when called upon. Gunner was that weapon, and he’d been used often.
Gunner let his head rock back and forth as it rested on the cargo plane’s fuselage. He glanced over at Cam and Bear, recalling how the three of them had come together at Hurlburt Field and ultimately formed a cohesive unit. He recalled how his new commander had steered the three together, placing them on missions and then quizzing them on their interaction during debriefings.
At first, base command hesitated to place Gunner and Cam in the same unit because of their longtime friendship dating back to childhood. But then Gunner had an opportunity to lead a mission with them into Ukraine and they impressed their superiors at how well they worked as a team. Bear was the perfect complement to the fearless, tactical Gunner and the stealthier, crafty Cam. He was a brute with advanced combat skills, both with weapons and his hands. Every special ops unit needs a guy to have their back. Bear was their man.
So, this team of three was formed and now they’d worked together for five years. One of the things that they only discussed among themselves was how they enjoyed the hunt. When on a mission, they knew their lives were at stake. They were determined to survive, which meant killing any threat that surfaced. Like other special operators, they balanced the risks and the rewards, and despite death being the risk, they went into every operation balls to the wall.
Their camaraderie was unparalleled, and their thrill of danger was borderline psychotic. They’d never turned down a mission and they’d never failed. They’d deterred military coups, and helped initiate them. They’d protected dignitaries from assassinations, and carried out orders to kill.
Ride or die.
*****
At some point, Gunner must have dozed off, only to be violently shaken back to life by the transport touching down at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. After a brief opportunity to eat and take a shower, the team was back in the air, this time soaring across the Pacific Ocean in the latest variant of the famed Bell-Boeing Osprey.
The older V-22s had given way to the new V-26 aircraft that had a ferry range of twenty-five hundred nautical miles, more than enough to fly Gunner and his team to link up with Carrier Strike Group 5, led by its flagship, the USS Ronald Reagan.
CSG 5, its abbreviated designation, was on patrol in the Sea of Japan, as it had been for years since hostilities between the free world and North Korea continued. Attempts to reach a denuclearization treaty with Kim Jong-un had failed. Both the Chinese and Russians had openly pledged military support for the Kim regime in the event it was attacked, effectively shutting off any military options on the table to tackle the problem.
As a result, the CSG 5 patrols—consisting of the Reagan, the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruisers USS Chancellorsville and USS Shiloh, together with a variety of destroyers—maintained vigil in the Sea of Japan, ready to retaliate against any unprovoked attack initiated by the Hermit Kingdom.
The V-26 Osprey made a slow, drooping turn onto the designated landing area aboard the Reagan amidst a grouping of EA-18G Growlers that had incorporated the improvements from the newly commissioned F/A 18 Advanced Super Hornets. The tilt-rotor aircraft was hovering over the Reagan’s deck, its rotor wash throwing sea spray and particles of sand in all directions. The crew of the Reagan expertly guided the Osprey’s pilot downward, and within seconds, they were back on a solid surface.
Bear had his nose pressed against the window of the Osprey, admiring the toys below. He pointed toward the stern of the carrier. “There’s our ride.”
Inspired by the Osprey, the Bell AV-280 Valor utilized tilt-rotor technology as part of the military’s vertical-lift program. Tested and modified extensively since its inaugural flight in 2017, the AV-280 had proven to be an invaluable means of inserting special operations teams deep into hostile territory without the need for parachute drops and complicated extractions.
Easily capable of a cruise speed of over three hundred knots, approaching four hundred miles per hour, the AV-280 enjoyed the agility and operations of an airplane, but the landing capability of a helicopter due to its tilt-rotor design.
What sealed the deal for the Pentagon was its ability to carry heavy cargo while still maintaining two-hundred-mile-per-hour speeds. It was known to transport ten-thousand-pound Howitzers deep into a hot zone in addition to being used as a fighting machine. The AV-280 variant was equipped with rocket launchers and missiles, providing a valuable tool in forward operations and battle planning.
Gunner stepped out onto the flight deck of the Reagan and immediately marveled at its size. It measured over a thousand feet, nearly as long as the Empire State Building was high. It had two runways together with dozens of aircraft on board.
A naval lieutenant greeted Gunner and led them inside toward a passenger elevator. The high-speed elevators nearby could support two fighter jets to be raised from the below-deck hangar to the flight deck in an instant. The Reagan, manned by over five thousand sailors and aviators, was designed to rule the seas, both on the water and in the air.
“Major Fox, please wait here while I let Command Master Chief Pollard know that you’ve arrived,” the lieutenant said as the trio was shown into a conference room. As he exited, he closed the door behind him, leaving the group alone to talk.
“Listen, before we meet our hosts, is there anything we need from them in the way of intel that we don’t have already?” asked Gunner.
“I’ve gotta say, the materials provided by the DTRA were far more detailed than what we usually have to work with,” replied Cam.
“I agree,” added Bear. “We’ve got recon photos, security layouts, and a pretty good idea of our LZ. As I see it, this op is all about how to get in and out undetected.”
Gunner mindlessly spun one of the conference room chairs before he added, “I have to agree. I will have one question for the master chief when he arrives.” The words were barely out of his mouth when a bald head entered the room first as the six-foot-seven master chief arrived.
“Welcome to the USS Ronald Reagan. I’m Command Master Chief Pollard and these are my aides. We have the latest satellite images of the Russian coastline along the Sea of Okhotsk to our north. Also, we’ve been asked to supply you with imagery of the Amur Oblast region.”
Gunner was taken aback slightly by the gruff demeanor and all-business appr
oach of the master chief. Then again, he wasn’t interested in small talk either, nor did he care about the satellite intel. They were going in come hell or high water.
“Master Chief, I’m Major Gunner Fox. Will we have operational or combat support from the CSG 5 in case we have to come out hot?”
“No, Major, you will not. Any other questions?”
Gunner scowled as he stared at Bear, who seemed ready to go toe-to-toe with the master chief. Bear knew the look, as he’d received it before. It was the functional equivalent of don’t even think about it.
“No, Master Chief, we’re good to go. Thank you.”
Chapter 33
Saturday, April 8
CNN Studios
Atlanta, Georgia
Jack Young was a multi-award-winning journalist for CNN who’d risen up the ranks after making a name for himself at a local Atlanta news station. For the past two decades, he’d traveled the world, reporting from more than thirty foreign countries, seeing firsthand the devastation caused by some of the world’s biggest natural disasters, ranging from earthquakes and tsunamis to volcanic eruptions and pandemics.
From time to time, Young anchored the news desk for CNN International although most of his time was spent reporting from the field. It was unusual that he happened to be in Atlanta at the time Sparky reached out to him. Ordinarily, pursuing a lead for an ostensibly worldwide story came to Young’s attention from the senior research team at CNN. This was rare for him to be contacted directly, and from someone who lived barely a hundred miles away.
Young had interviewed presidential hopefuls and Grammy winners, dignitaries and sports stars, but mostly, he reported on ordinary people who did extraordinary things.