by Bobby Akart
Sparky had barely been seated when a flood of people entered Studio 41 from the hallway and scurried to take up seats in the rear. Sparky glanced at a wall clock and saw that it was only minutes before seven. Then a tall well-dressed man emerged from behind a curtain, followed by two aides carrying computer tablets and equipped with earpieces. The man chatted with both of them as he made his way to the center of the stage.
A hush came across the room as he nodded and thanked his assistants for their help. Then he addressed the attendees.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I need to be brief,” he began, and then paused to address the others in the front row next to Sparky. “For those of you who’ve assisted us in the content for this extraordinary broadcast of 60 Minutes, I want to introduce myself. I am Douglas Edwards III, grandson of a pioneer at CBS Television News who anchored our broadcasts back in 1948.
“As the president and senior executive producer of CBS News, I’ve been honored to work with the finest journalists in the world. As the offspring of newspeople dating back to the nineteenth century, I feel I have the news business in my blood.
“In my lifetime, I have never seen a story as big as this one. To be sure, in modern times, we’ve witnessed the flight of man, both for the first time and to the Moon. We’ve witnessed a world war started by a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, and the same war being ended via nuclear devastation. We’ve seen the creation of computers and the advent of the internet.
“However, this is the first time in the history of modern man that a threat to our very existence is upon us. And thanks to the hard work of our journalistic teams at both CNN and CBS and the courage of a local newspaper publisher in a small town of four thousand, we will bring the story to the world that dwarfs any other.”
Spontaneous applause broke out that Edwards immediately moved to tamp down. He paused and looked along the front row, eventually making eye contact with Sparky. “To all of you, our heartfelt gratitude goes out for your efforts in bringing this special edition of 60 Minutes to fruition. For everyone else in attendance, we thought it was appropriate to reward you for all that you’ve done for the CBS News organization over the years and for being here, in Studio 41, as we bring the news to the world. Thank you.”
Edwards walked off the stage and the lights in Studio 41 dimmed. Then the massive television monitors sprang to life and the familiar ticking clock indicating that the 60 Minutes broadcast was about to begin filled the room.
Chills ran across Sparky’s body as the familiar faces of the hosts and correspondents appeared one by one, culminating with Anderson Cooper, who would be the lead on this broadcast.
The program dove right into the threat the planet faced. Sparky imagined that the CBS News executives were concerned about leaks, so they wanted to preempt any other news source from co-opting the story. He was intrigued by the chatter and occasional gasps coming from the audience, which included seasoned news veterans from both in front of and behind the cameras. Most were unaware of the subject matter of the program and had most likely been exposed to the type of hype that Edward had provided at the beginning. In this case, the buildup was appropriate.
When the show turned to Sparky’s interview, he cringed at times. When you see yourself on television, your voice sounds weird, your appearance isn’t just so, and your mannerisms are all wrong. Yet you are always your own biggest critic.
The program broke for its first commercial break after fifteen minutes. The room erupted into conversation as they were astonished at the revelations concerning the asteroid and its trajectory. Several people sitting around Sparky leaned over the back of the seat and introduced themselves and offered him congratulations. One even handed him a business card with his agent’s name on it and said, “Here, you’re gonna need this guy.”
It was the next segment that Sparky was most interested in. He understood the ramifications of Nate and Jackie’s discovery and the appropriate steps he had taken to report the news to Jack Young at CNN.
What he wanted to know was now that the proverbial cat was out of the bag, what could be done about it?
Chapter 38
Sunday, April 8
CBS Broadcast Studios
New York
Anderson Cooper continued the program and turned immediately to the issue of how an asteroid of this size could sail through space, around the Sun, and directly for our planet without being observed by the multimillion-dollar early detection systems.
In the past couple of decades, one political party or another had used partial government shutdowns as a hammer to get its way on a variety of hot issues. Sometimes, the closing of national parks was used in the media to show the pain inflicted on the American people over the budget wrangling. Other times, kids’ school lunches were eliminated. One way or the other, the politicians were skewered because they couldn’t find a way to govern, resulting in the loss of services and, at times, the use of the furlough process to eliminate jobs.
NASA had experienced that pain every time the shutdowns occurred, including the present one that had continued into its ninth day. Cooper interviewed a spokesman for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory because NASA didn’t provide anyone for an on-camera interview.
Cooper asked, “So, if I understand you correctly, you have no official comment on the newly discovered asteroid other than the fact that your agency has been notified of the threat thanks to this broadcast, am I correct?”
Sparky gulped, now understanding what gotcha journalism could do to a normally calm person’s demeanor. The man being interviewed looked like he wanted to turn and run away as fast as he could.
“Yes, Anderson. Like I said, this is news to us, and the JPL has procedures in place to deal with new inform—”
“But, sir,” Cooper interrupted, “my question to you is why hasn’t this been discovered already, and to what effect has the budget impasse in Washington contributed to this act of gross negligence by the very agencies charged with protecting us from space objects like asteroids?”
“Um, well, Anderson, the government shutdown had wide-reaching effects on all of NASA’s operations, personnel shortages in particular. While we have the finest satellites in the world pointing up at the sky, constantly scanning for near-Earth objects that threaten us, the usual redundancies, you know, checks and balances, have suffered due to the manpower shortage.”
Cooper was undeterred by the explanation. “Sir, it is a fact, is it not, that had this asteroid been discovered sooner, the administration’s options would be broader?”
“Yes, that is true, but please, let me add this. We, and by that, I’m referring to NASA and the JPL, together with associated space agencies, are not the only eyes looking for newly discovered space rocks. The Europeans, Russians, and Chinese, to an extent, all have similar capabilities to ours. None of them have reported this object either.”
Cooper pressed further. “But isn’t it true that there is a lot to gain by being the first to land a manned spacecraft on a near-Earth object of this size? Therefore, the Russians, for example, would have much to gain by being the first?”
“That is true, but our experience is that geopolitical differences are—”
Cooper cut him off and turned to face the camera. “Clearly, the partial government shutdown and years of budget cuts have taken its toll on NASA, hampering its responsibility to protect our planet from asteroids such as this one. However, there is a larger issue at hand here. As you’ve seen from the interview in the first segment, the government and, by extension, the administration, has been aware of this threat and has done nothing to inform the American people, nor have we seen anything indicating action on NASA’s part to intercept or destroy the incoming asteroid. For more on that, we’ll turn to Norah O’Donnell, who interviewed Dr. Alma McClain.”
O’Donnell, the former co-anchor of CBS This Morning until she was forced out, had been a mainstay on 60 Minutes for the last decade. “Yes, Anderson. I had the opportunity to interview Dr. Alma McCla
in, who has been ill of late but who, I can assure you, is still full of knowledge. Let me say this for our viewers, our producers reached out to more than a dozen scientists at NASA, as well as the ESA, and none of them agreed to come on camera with us. Only time will tell as to whether they were aware of this asteroid, but in the meantime, Dr. McClain laid out what our planet faces.”
The screen switched to Dr. McClain’s home in Studio City, California, a modest one-story stucco home that she’d lived in since 2006. Dr. McClain, who was seventy-four, sat in her living room with her dog sitting in her lap as she answered O’Donnell’s questions.
After praising the scientists and employees at America’s space agencies, and taking a dig at the current administration and their secretive handling of this discovery, Dr. McClain explained how this late discovery most likely came about.
“Norah, the world’s attention was captured by Comet Oort, or as we astronomers like to dub it, the next Great Comet. Comet Oort’s characteristics in terms of brightness and the length of its tail are certainly worthy of attention, but these same characteristics are partly to blame for keeping this new asteroid from being seen. The heavens couldn’t have provided a more efficient method of concealment, a disguise, to obscure our view of this new NEO.
“Frankly, it was just pure luck that the amateur astronomers in Georgia happened to record the object and be astute enough to know it was out of the ordinary. Kudos to them.”
O’Donnell referred to her notes and then asked, “Dr. McClain, as you and I discussed off camera, there is so much that we don’t know about this asteroid, such as size, speed, trajectory, and impact date. You’ve seen the data provided to us by the newsman out of Washington, Georgia, what can you tell us about the date it might strike Earth?”
“Norah, I would estimate the impact date at being a little over two weeks. Naturally, NASA has probably already made these calculations, and I suspect the president will—or heck, he might not—disclose that to us in the next hour. I do know that all eyes will be searching for this asteroid, and by midnight, the actual impact date will be announced.”
“Then what?” asked O’Donnell.
“Well, after the projected impact date is determined, the Torino scale will be applied and an impact rating will be established.”
“Torino?”
“Yes, sorry. The Torino scale categorizes the impact hazard associated with NEOs in order to assess the likelihood of a collision and, based upon its kinetic energy, how much damage it will cause. For point of reference, the impact that contributed to the extinction of the dinosaurs was a 10 on the Torino scale, while in more modern times, the mile-wide Barringer Crater just west of Winslow, Arizona, was assigned an 8. There is another scale, the Palermo Technical Impact Hazard Scale, but it uses far more complex data points and information that will take days to discern. For now, the Torino scale is your best bet to provide your viewers a point of comparison.”
“Dr. McClain, based upon what we know, do you have an opinion as to where this particular near-Earth object will fall on the Torino scale?”
“Most likely as a 9 or 10. For perspective, the largest hydrogen bomb ever exploded, the Tsar Bomba, was around fifty megatons. The 1883 eruption of the Krakatoa volcano was two hundred megatons. The Chicxulub impact, the dino-killer, was most likely a hundred million megatons.”
“Are you saying that the impact could hit the planet with the force of thousands of hydrogen bombs?”
“Sadly, yes, Norah. This is what the human race faces.”
Anderson Cooper came back onto the screen and glumly said, “60 Minutes will return in a moment, and when we do, we’ll assess the options available to defend ourselves from this menacing object.”
Unlike the commercial break between the first and second segments of the program, the room was deathly silent as the realities began to settle in. The excitement of the big story, the so-called breaking news, was crushed by the dread that the world was in serious danger.
For Sparky, he’d already come to that realization, and now he was waiting for this part of the ordeal to be over so he could get home to his wife. He slumped down in his chair and closed his eyes, allowing his sense of hearing to do the work for a while.
The program came back and several scientists were interviewed, providing the viewers of 60 Minutes with the various options the governments of the world could choose from. By the end of the program, there was no agreement among the scientists, and speculation seemed to take over the program.
Sparky perked up as the program came to an end and the glum-looking President of the United States appeared on the screens. The man looked haggard and worn. Sparky grimaced.
He knew the feeling.
Chapter 39
Sunday, April 8
The Vostochny Cosmodrome
Amur Oblast
Russian Far East
Bear wedged himself behind the root ball, waiting for the sound of the truck to come around. Their surveillance of the sole vehicle’s patrol allowed them fifteen minutes in which to place the boar in clear view of the road and hide Bear where he could assist in the ambush.
“Okay, team,” said the Jackal into their comms. “The patrol car is rounding the turn now and should be in your view in four, three, two, now.”
Gunner gripped his knife in his left hand and positioned his right hand near his silenced sidearm. He gave a slight wave to Bear, who was hidden behind the massive rotting root ball near the next corner. If the patrol behaved as expected, they’d see the dead animal just as they entered their next turn, allowing Gunner and Cam to sneak up from behind and strike.
As predicted, the dead boar caught the attention of the passenger, who motioned for the driver to pull off the gravel road toward the upended tree. The two uniformed soldiers stepped out of the utility vehicle, but did not draw their weapons. They slowly approached the bleeding hog and stared in wonderment.
Cam had a working knowledge of Russian, as well as several other languages, and tried to interpret for the team.
“They think the boar was wounded by a hunter and dragged itself out of the mountains to die. Now they’re debating whether to throw it on the hood of the truck and take it back to their mess hall.”
Cam paused for a moment. One of the men turned toward their position, forcing Gunner and Cam behind the trees. The two men began to talk loudly.
“What are they saying?” asked Gunner.
“The driver thinks he saw something.”
The Russian soldier yelled, “Ey, ty! Pokazhi, sebya!” Hey, you! Show yourself!
Gunner immediately felt exposed and in danger. He felt for his sidearm but realized they were too far away to get an accurate shot. He had to rely on Bear.
“Bear?”
“No worries. I’ve got this.”
Gunner allowed himself a better vantage point by sliding along the back side of the tree and crawling closer to Cam’s position. They were able to catch a glimpse of what happened next through the leafless branches of the birch trees hiding their position.
Bear, who was only thirty feet away from the patrol guards, quickly emerged from behind the root ball and placed two well-placed rounds at the base of each man’s skull. With his pistol drawn and pointed at the soldiers who’d landed facedown in the snow, he watched for movement. They didn’t, but he plugged each in the back of the head to confirm their deaths.
“Got ’em,” he announced as he holstered his silenced weapon. Then, with his muscular arms, he grabbed each heavyset man by an ankle and hurriedly dragged them backward behind the root ball.
Within seconds, Gunner and Cam had joined him, and they debated their next move. Gunner contacted the Jackal.
“We haven’t laid eyes on the main gate. What is the security like?”
“That’s a no-go, Major. Too much firepower and personnel.”
Bear leaned over to Gunner. “I like the way she talks. It’s kinda sexy.”
“I heard that, Sergeant,” the Jackal
said calmly. Then she offered Gunner an alternative. “Major, there is a utility gate near a self-contained solid-waste depository.”
“A what?” asked Bear.
“A dumpster,” replied Cam. “Jackal, is it within the wall?”
“Partially. You can wedge the vehicle between the wall and the deposit—um, dumpster. You should be able to walk through the dumpster and enter the compound that way.”
“Walk through the trash?” lamented Bear.
“Yes, you big baby,” responded Cam. “This one’s on me. You guys watch my back and, Bear, you point this thing out with the motor running, just in case.”
With a plan in place, the three of them walked briskly, one at a time, to the patrol car and got settled in. Bear complained about the cramped driver’s seat, but he eventually managed to slowly drive them around the corner of the complex, making sure to maintain a steady speed.
“I see the dumpster,” said Bear.
“Any unusual activity?” asked Gunner.
“No, sir,” replied the Jackal.
Gunner turned to Cam, who was readying herself in the backseat. “You got this? I’m already covered in pig blood. What’s a little garbage stench to go with it, right?”
Bear disagreed. “Yeah, and you’re gonna leave all that nasty shit on the ground when we pull out of here. You’re not getting in my new AV-280 smelling like a dead animal.”
Cam sat up in her seat as she pointed to where she had the best access to the dumpster. “It’s got to be me. I know enough Russian to realize when I’m in trouble, and maybe I can convince them, if caught, that I’m a reporter or something.”
Gunner stretched his fist into the backseat and she bumped it in return. She readied the video camera and waited for Bear to stop the vehicle.
“We’ve got your back,” reassured Bear as Cam scampered out of the car and climbed into the dumpster.