The Moonfall

by Jack McDevitt

  The afternoon stillness was giving way to the roar of helicopter rotors. From the direction of Fort Dix. "They've been going all day," said Harrison. He leaned back in his chair and gazed steadily at the smaller man. "Why do you think they're doing that?"

  "They always do that. There are always helicopters flying back and forth here."

  "Not like this," said Harrison. "I think they're getting out." He caught the lawyer rolling his eyes. "I live here. You think I don't know something's happening?"

  Waring, unsure how to respond, just held out his hands, like a supplicant.

  "Okay." Harrison waved it away. "I've been looking over the policies. Paragraph sixty-six of the property and equipment coverage specifically excludes acts of God. Paragraph seventeen of the product policy contains the same exclusion. Now, am I safe in assuming that, if the worst happened, if a tidal wave came this far inshore, that we would be left with nothing, no factory, no product, nothing?"

  Waring nodded slowly. "That's essentially correct, Walt. Yes. We are not insured against tidal waves. Or flooding. This is not a flood area. We'd also be cleaned out by an earthquake. Or if a volcano erupted." He frowned and crossed one leg over the other. "Why don't we look at it this way: If things get so bad that the tide comes all the way in to Wrightstown, you won't have to worry about the company. The country won't survive."

  "I'm not trying to be funny here, Marshall." Harrison glanced around the office walls. They were covered with photos of himself supervising soapbox derbies, receiving the Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year Award, sharing a microphone with the commanding general of Fort Dix, shaking hands with the governor. "I'm not responsible for the country. But I am responsible for Pine River and its employees and customers, and I am damned well going to see the company and its people through this."

  "How?" Waring asked.

  "By biting the bullet." He punched his intercom. "Louise, would you send Archie in, please?"

  "Be careful," said Waring.

  "That's exactly what I'm trying to do." More helicopters roared overhead as the door opened and Archie Pickman came in. Harrison looked out the window, trying to follow the choppers. Then he turned and looked pointedly at the man standing in the doorway. "Come in, Archie. Sit down." He drummed his fingertips on the desktop. "What do you think about the helicopters?"

  "Hell," Archie said, "they're getting out."

  Archie Pickman was the plant manager, and Harrison's most trusted subordinate. He'd come to Pine River thirty years before with no particular skills, newly married, and in need of a job. The company traditionally hired only experienced craftsmen, but Harrison's father had seen something in the boy.

  The CEO's eyes found the lawyer. "My brother-in-law," he said, "works at the Franklin Institute. He called this morning. Says there's reason to worry."

  "I suggest we not get excited," said Waring.

  "No one's getting excited," said Harrison. "But we're going to close down the operation tomorrow. Archie, I want to get the merchandise, all of it, onto trucks and moved over to Reading or somewhere in that area. Onto high ground. If there aren't enough company trucks, rent some."

  Pickman's eyes opened wide. "I don't think the problem's all that serious," he said.

  Harrison pushed back in his chair. "By God, I hope not. But if it is, we're not going to get caught here with our tails in the fan. If it's a false alarm, all the better, and we'll haul everything back next week. Figure out how many people we'll need, and have somebody call around, make arrangements for food and lodging. Okay?"

  "Yes, sir," said Archie.

  "Walter," said Waring, "you are overreacting."

  "It's a safety measure, Marshall."

  "You'll be a laughingstock when it's over."

  "Maybe. I hope so." He turned back to Archie. "One more thing: Advise our full-time employees that if anyone wants to take his family to high ground-draw a line somewhere and figure out where we're talking about-the company will split the motel bill fifty-fifty for Friday and Saturday night. Okay? After that, we should know where we stand, and they're on their own." Moonbase, Press Briefing Room. 3:00 P.M.

  Rick Hailey was satisfied they'd thought of everything.

  Eight reporters had been chosen to ask questions. Two were at Moonbase. Others were on feeds from across the nation and around the globe: the BBC's Charles Young in London, and Erik Lachman in the Berlin office of NEWSNET. Chiang Tien was in Beijing for the New China News Service; Ali Haroud was in Egypt for the Cairo Times. Ellen Randall represented PBS; and Mark Able, CNN. Transglobal's Keith Morley and Pacific's Tashi Yomiuri were both at Moonbase, seated in the conference room with a small crowd, facing a lectern on which was suspended the vice presidential seal.

  Hampton did the introduction, and she kept it simple: "Ladies and gentlemen, I have the honor of presenting Charles L. Haskell, the vice president of the United States."

  Haskell entered the room, shook a few hands, took his place at the lectern, and smiled into the cameras. He looked good, far more presidential than Kolladner had ever managed, Rick thought. And self-possessed. He was obviously relaxed. He greeted his wotldwide audience, announced that he wanted to make a statement before the questioning began, smiled that aw shucks smile, and said, "Well, I know you're all a little worried about us, but I think everybody should know, first off, that we're in good hands." He looked across at Evelyn, who did what she could to appear on top of things.

  Charlie was good that day. In Rick's view, he'd never been better. He sounded calm and reflective, utterly confident that the situation was under control. He even managed a few bad jokes. ("I hate to leave Moonbase. After all these years struggling with my weight, I finally get it down to thirty-seven pounds and they show me the door.") The jokes were part of his public persona, not clever-people didn't like clever jokes from their political leaders-but self-effacing. The vice president had a gift for playing off his audiences. This one seemed especially responsive. They laughed at his one-liners and warmed to him quickly.

  When he finished, the reporters tossed him softballs. How was the morale at Moonbase? And then got a little more serious: In light of this unfortunate occurrence, had the space program proved after all to be a mistake? The Mars mission had been postponed, possibly indefinitely. If elected, would he support a new attempt?

  Haroud wanted to know whether they were going to get everyone off the Moon safely.

  "Certainly," said Haskell.

  "I mean safely away, Mr. Vice President. It looks as if one or two of the rescue vehicles will not get much of a running start before the impact."

  "If you're asking whether we're concerned, Ali, then my answer is yes. Of course we're concerned. But everything that can be done is being done." He paused to think it over. "Look, let me put it this way. I expect to be home in a few days. And I intend to be the last person to leave Moonbase. I will personally lock the door and turn out the lights."

  Rick knew he meant it, but he wished he hadn't made it a public commitment.

  WASHINGTON ONLINE. 3:18 P.M.

  by Mary-Lynn Jamison

  Sources close to the White House sold today that the president has been advised that the Saturday night comet impact on the Moon may eject debris that could land on Earth with deadly consequences. Large pieces of falling moonrock might devastate entire cities, the president has been told by high-ranking scientists. Another major concern: Fragments crashing into the oceans could generate giant waves. If that happens, population centers in coastal areas in the United States and around the globe are at risk. The sources indicate that a conspiracy of silence exists among world leaders, the scientific community, and the media regarding the probable consequences of the impact.

  TRANSGLOBAL SPECIAL REPORT. 4:22 P.M.

  "This is Shannon Gardner in downtown St. Louis with Tomiko Harrington, who discovered the comet that bears her name. Tomiko, how has life changed for you during the last few days?"

  "Well, it's really been very exciting. I've lost cou
nt of the number of interviews I've done today. I'll be on the Jack Kramer Show tonight on CNN, and on The Today Show tomorrow morning. I've even been called by some people who want to work with me on a book."

  "Any plans along those lines?"

  "Oh, I don't think so. What's to tell? I… just happened to find a comet."

  "You were going to say something else?"

  "I almost said I was lucky enough to find a comet. But it really hasn't been very lucky, has it?"

  6.

  Moonbase, Director's Office. 6:27 P.M.

  Jack Chandler hadn't slept since the emergency started. He was no longer young and just couldn't keep going indefinitely. But he wasn't aware there was anything left he needed to attend to, so he turned the operation over to his aides, announced he'd be at his desk if he was needed, turned down the lights, and lay down on the sofa in his office. Of all the people at Moonbase, of all the careers that would be lost, investments dissipated, dreams blown away, no one was going to take a harder hit from Tomiko than the director.

  For the first time in almost ten years, there was no lead weight in his chest, no painful awareness of his bruised heart's constant struggle with gravity, no sense of his lungs struggling for air. Jack Chandler loved his life on the Moon. He'd come to stay.

  Evelyn thought they were at the end of the human attempt to expand off-world. What was it she said she'd told the vice president? You get a window when the technology, the money, and the will are all there. We had it. Briefly. They were already scrambling at the LTA to salvage what they could from their fleet of space vehicles.

  For Chandler, it meant a return to one g.

  He closed his eyes and listened to the soft, steady rhythm of his heart. His body remembered what it had been to be twenty-five.

  The distance between Earth and Moon was measured, not in kilometers, but in heartbeats.

  Someone knocked. The door opened. "Mr. Chandler?" His secretary.

  "What is it, Susan?"

  "Phone, sir. It's Elrond Caparatti. Says he has to speak with you. Says it's urgent." Moonbase, Grissom Country. 11:53 P.M.

  Evelyn was wrapped in an oversized bathrobe. "You're sure," she demanded.

  Chandler hesitated. If the average weight went miraculously down so they could squeeze an extra person on here, and another one there, they could still make it. But realistically speaking, that wasn't going to happen. "Yes," he said. "It looks like about six people."

  Her eyes bored into him. "Overload the buses," she said.

  "They are overloaded. One of them damned near crashed an hour ago. They aren't built to carry a lot of excess weight, Evelyn. I'm sorry: A few of us are not going home and I think we better start getting ready to face it."

  "Show me," she said.

  Chandler produced his numbers, the maximum weight allowances for the individual vehicles, departure and rendezvous times, the windows. He watched the muscles move in her throat as she studied them. "We can't do any better than this?"

  "I've been over there, working with them all evening. We've tried everything we can think of. This is the best we can do."

  Her eyes moved away from him. "You can get the Micro back here by about ten," she said.

  "What good's that going to do? The last of the planes'll be out of here by nine-thirty. We couldn't even get back up to it before the comet hits. Couldn't even get out of the Spaceport, for that matter."

  "Six people?" she said.

  Chandler felt the weight in his chest. "Make it five," he said.

  FRANK CRANDALL'S ALL-NIGHTER. 11:59 P.M.

  Crandall: Go ahead, Bill from Nashua. Welcome to the show. First Caller: Frank? Frank, am I on? Crandall: You're on, Bill. But you want to turn your radio down. First Caller: Oh. Okay. Listen, about this comet thing? Crandall: Yes. First Caller: It's another government coverup. You know what I mean? Crandall: Why do you say that, Bill? First Caller: They claim they put all that money into the Moon- Crandall: You mean Moonbase? First Caller: Yeah. And now this comet comes out of nowhere, and they're telling us it's gonna whack the place. Completely. Doesn't that sound a little strange to you? Crandall: Well, I think it's pretty unlucky. First Caller: Unlucky? Come on, Frank. They've given the money away. Handed it out to their friends. And all these welfare types. So now they have to come up with a way to hide what they did. Get rid of the body, you know? Crandall: Okay. Thanks, Bill. Appreciate your calling. Jeanie from Clarksdale, Alabama. Hi, Jeanie. Second Caller: Hi, Frank. Hey, you know, I can't believe I actually got through. I've been trying for two years. Crandall: Well, we're delighted that you were so patient. So, what are your thoughts on the comet? Second Caller: You know how people are saying it's weird that it comes the week we're opening the place? Well, I don't think it's a coincidence. Crandall: In what way, Jeanie? Second Caller: I think it's pretty clear. We open the moonbase, and God sends a comet. Same day, we see it. What does that mean to you? Crandall: Anything can happen? Second Caller: The Lord's trying to tell us something. You know what the Good Book says: "He that has eyes, let him see." Crandall: What's the Lord trying to tell us, Jeanie? Second Caller: We got no place on the Moon, Frank. It's too dose to heaven. We got no place, and he's tellin' us so. I hope we're smart enough to listen. Crandall: Okay, folks, we'll be back after a break.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  EVACUATION

  Friday, April 12

  1.

  Moonbase, Grissom Country. 5:50 A.M.

  Evelyn Hampton stood in Charlie's doorway. Her usually placid features were unsettled.

  Under other circumstances, Charlie would have been grateful for the company. One of the disadvantages of his office was that, if he didn't travel with an entourage, he had no one to talk to. Except reporters. Reporters always wanted to talk, of course. And that was okay. But it was business. Politics. And despite his good relations with the press, Charlie understood the need for caution. There was no such thing as a casual conversation with the Washington Post.

  "Hi," he said, wondering why she was there, knowing it was not good news.

  She pushed the door shut behind her. "Problem, Charlie."

  He made room for her to sit. "How did I guess?" he said.

  Her eyes were dark pools. "We're running behind."

  He nodded, feeling the world close in. "How far?"

  "Looks like six people."

  That wasn't possible, and Charlie wanted to believe he'd misunderstood. "Six who won't get off?"

  "That's what it looks like."

  "So few," he said. "Surely they can be squeezed in somewhere." Her features remained unyielding, and Charlie started thinking about political implications. But when he saw that her cheeks were damp, he felt a twinge of embarrassment. "What are you going to do?"

  "Jack says he'll stay."

  "Maybe it won't be as bad as we think." He didn't know what else to say.

  "I doubt we can count on it. Anyway, you need to think about covering your own rear end."

  I will personally lock the door and turn off the lights. Yeah, he was in an uncomfortable situation.

  She turned back to the door. "I've got to go."

  "What will you do about the others?"

  "I haven't decided yet."

  "Ask for volunteers," Charlie said. "You only need five. I know this sounds harsh, but you can always find people who're willing to be heroes if you phrase the request right." That was a corollary of Rick's primary principle that most people can be talked into damned near anything if you find the right emotional icon to appeal to. God, country, whatever.

  Her eyes hardened. "You're a cynic, after all, aren't you?"

  "No. I…" He squirmed under that dark gaze, saw contempt creep into it. "That's not what I meant…"

  She started for the door. "Doesn't matter. Anyway, I only need four."

  He stared at her. "You don't have to do that," he said. "You're not assigned here."

  Evelyn looked suddenly vulnerable. "You can't do that speech, Charlie, unless you're willing to stay you
rself. You know, captain of the ship and all that."

  Something passed between them, a communication at a level so visceral that Charlie shuddered. He groped to recover the situation. "Is there anything I can do?"

  "Get us another bus," she said. Her hand was on the doorknob. "The problem's the buses."

  He felt unclean. "How many know?"

  "Jack's over now telling his people. We'll deny everything until this evening. That should give you time-"

  "-to get myself bailed out."

  "Yes." The word was like a knife, although her tone was gentle. "I'm sorry. I gave you bad information before. I thought there'd be no trouble about the evacuation. Maybe it was wishful thinking."

  Charlie was back to the problem he'd faced earlier: A man hoping to lead the United States could not afford to be perceived as hightailing it when danger threatened. But the game had changed. Somebody wasn't going to get out.

  "I suggest you inform the president immediately. You have a private channel, of course?"

  Sure. Let him know the situation and he'll order me back to D.C. But it has to be done before the bad news breaks.

  "I suspect," she was saying, "he'll discover he needs you immediately, and we'll get a request to put you on the next bus." She looked up at him and her eyes were unreadable. "Nobody'll ever know."

  "Thanks, Evelyn," he said. Relief mixed with guilt flooded through him.

  She smiled. It was a bland, emotionless smile. "Good luck, Mr. Vice President." She opened the door and paused. "When you get the order, let me know. I'll see there are plenty of witnesses."

  After she had left, Charlie sat a long time, staring at the door. Moonbase, Main Plaza. 6:06 A.M.