Launch

  Dr. Burton nodded. “So ruled by this committee.”

  ▼

  That night, Amira read the court transcript on the appeal to rescind Claire and David’s license. She made calls the next morning to a committee chairwoman in the House of Representatives and a committee chairman in the Senate.

  ▼

  By the evening of the next day, Naomi and Mark were moved into the bedroom nearest Claire’s, adjacent to the as yet unoccupied nursery.

  They ate dinner on Claire and David’s bedroom balcony overlooking the Los Angeles Basin. “It’s hard to believe all of that’ll be under water,” Mark said.

  Claire shook her head. “It could be a terrible mess.”

  “At least nobody will be injured,” Naomi said. “Elf won’t allow that.”

  “Where are we going to live afterward?” Mark wondered aloud.

  “You can stay here as long as you want,” Claire said.

  “Thank you,” Naomi said. “We may take you up on that while we find a new home.” She looked pointedly at her husband. “It’ll be good to see David again. But I promise we’ll give the two of you space to get reacquainted. Fortunately, Broadview is big enough.”

  Just then, a call from Dr. Dale Curt came in on Claire’s ear charm. She excused herself, and stepped back into the bedroom.

  Dr. Curt said, “I’ve got a hospital to move, and Elf tells me you have space above the waterline. With your permission, we want to use part of it for a hospital.”

  “Certainly, sir. We’re using two bedrooms now, and we’ll have to find somewhere else to live, but it’s all yours.”

  “Oh no,” he said. “I’m not going to put you out at a time like this. Besides, most of our medical students are being evacuated. I want to draft you as a temporary medical student and put you to work.”

  Claire smiled. “Welcome to Broadview, Doctor.”

  “Thank you, Claire. Our robots and staff will be there tomorrow to start setting up.”

  ▼

  The largest emergency evacuation in history began. Taxis, suborbs, and air freighters from all over the world were brought in to help. People in parts of the world who weren’t vulnerable to the tidal wave were not left without transportation, but they were somewhat inconvenienced by longer wait times for taxis and suborb flights.

  Claire loaned her taxis and suborb to help with the evacuation. Their suborb only had fifteen seats, but it could get into small landing pads and evacuate more than three thousand people before the asteroid hit.

  Ships in the North Pacific began to move fast and with purpose. Those on their way into the ocean were turned around. Passenger ships were loaded and headed for the nearest ocean exit: one behind the other, as far as eyes could see. Freighters that could not get through crowded exit lanes were sent to ride out the tidal wave surge in the South Pacific.

  Hundreds of media and government cameras were trained on the approaching asteroid. Michael was visible in close-ups. Numbers at the bottom of the picture showed the asteroid’s closing speed and the time and distance remaining until impact or skip. As distance to the asteroid shrank, gravitational attraction and closing speed increased. People would go to bed with one speed number in mind from the evening news. The next morning, they would be shocked by a larger number and a sharper image of the asteroid. Then they would be shocked again the next day. Skeptics became skeptical of skepticism.

  With Elf’s impeccable management, evacuation went smoothly. Some people insisted on exercising their accustomed personal freedom to take vacations in safe parts of the world. Others wanted to change the plans Elf made for them for one reason or another. Elf accommodated them as best it could. A few did not want to evacuate at all. If Armageddon was coming, it was their turn, and they wanted to sit tight. Elf evacuated them anyway.

  Chapter 47

  The initial UCLA Medical Center setup team arrived with two doctors and six robots. The doctors said Mark’s cougar sculpture and the carpet Amira had given Claire and David had to go into storage. The carpet would make it harder for hospital gurneys to roll, and the sculpture was an obstacle that might be damaged.

  Over the next four days, Broadview was converted into a small hospital. The foyer became a reception area, and the ten unused bedrooms became treatment rooms. Temporary dividers were erected in the ballroom for patient rooms, a lab, and a pharmacy. Robots put radiology equipment at the back of the ballroom level storeroom where stray radiation would be absorbed by the surrounding earth. The living room and dining room were set up for specialized medical services, and the family den was designated a staff break area. The indoor swimming pool was covered, and robots brought in dividers and cots for staff who otherwise would have been evacuated. Gym equipment was left as is and made available to everybody. Both kitchens were pressed into service.

  Staff arrived, and patients who lived in nearby safe areas arrived soon after. Claire was glad to help in any way she could, and people were thrilled to meet her. With Elf’s help, she learned new techniques and was soon carrying a substantial workload.

  The nursery adjacent to Claire and David’s bedroom, which had been planned for one, became a nursery for many. It overflowed into the bedroom, and Claire wound up sleeping on a cot on the pool level with other staff members.

  Naomi volunteered herself and Mark to help in the nursery; she thought it would be a good idea for them to get hands on experience. “Thank you very much,” he said under his breath. Before long they were both working full time and then some.

  ▼

  One night Claire used blips from a low-power flashlight to make her weary way down to her cot without disturbing other sleepers. She took off her wriscreen and earcharm, slipped her feet out of her shoes, and crawled gratefully into her cot as waves of exhaustion rolled over her. Through the thin partition, she could hear soft voices in an adjacent sleeping cubicle, but she was sound asleep within seconds and did not understand a word.

  “When I saw that video of her flying Origin through that asteroid field it almost scared me to death. I would have crashed into the first one, but she just went on and on and on and on. It was unbelievable.”

  Another voice said, “I know. And it’s not enough that she’s a hero and friends with the President, she lets her husband go to push that asteroid off course in the last weeks of her pregnancy. Then she gives up her house to be used as a hospital. What really impresses me is she works like a . . . a . . .”

  “Robot!”

  “Yeah, like a robot, and she’s eight months pregnant! She’s awesome!”

  ▼

  Claire went into her audio-video center just before noon every day to talk to David. The day before the asteroid was to enter Earth’s atmosphere he said, “You look tired.”

  “I am a bit,” she confessed.

  “Are you bullying the staff into letting you do too much?”

  She was offended. “I don’t bully anybody!”

  “You may not mean to, but you’re strong-willed, and who’s going to say no to the famous Doctor Claire Archer? If you’re doing too much, you could hurt yourself and the baby.”

  ▼

  Later at an afternoon decaf tea break with Naomi, Claire asked, “I don’t bully people, do I?”

  “Who says you do?”

  “David implied I take advantage of my celebrity.”

  Naomi smiled. “You’re strong-willed, and it’s hard to say no to the famous Doctor Claire Archer.”

  “That’s what he said.”

  “You’re a kind and generous person, Claire, but celebrity is power. You have to be careful to use your power wisely, so you don’t accidentally hurt anyone—or yourself.”

  Claire thought about what David and Naomi had said, about how tired she had been. She nodded. “Point taken.”

  ▼

  The pain woke Claire, and she looked at her wriscreen. It was three forty-seven in the morning on March 24, 2554, breakaway day for David, impact or skip day for the asteroid.

 
; False labor—I hope.

  The next pain woke her up seven minutes later. The third pain was seven minutes after that.

  Claire got dressed. In the west elevator to the main floor, she said, “Three possible labor pains, Elf. The last two were seven minutes apart, and the last one was a minute after four.”

  “Room six is available and ready, ma’am. Elf will advise the attending physician.”

  The autoscanner’s diagnosis of early stage one labor was unequivocal. Claire realized sadly that David would probably not be there for the delivery.

  When she missed her noon call to David, he called her and was connected to the delivery room. “What’s going on?”

  “First stage labor. It started at three forty-seven this morning,” she said.

  “Will the baby be born before I can get there?”

  “Probably.”

  “I’m sorry, Cougar.”

  “Me, too,” she said. “But it’s not your fault. I should not have volunteered so much.”

  ▼

  After talking to Claire, David noticed that the probability of impact had increased to 51%.

  “What happened to impact probability, Elf?”

  “The asteroid is closer to Earth, sir. Image resolution has improved, and surface irregularities on the asteroid are more visible. Recalculation of the drag that will be caused by the surface irregularities indicates that the asteroid is less likely to skip.”

  “Any suggestions?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Could you get some more suborbs up here?”

  “Not enough time, sir.”

  There was no alternative. He was going to have to ask what he did not want to ask. “What would happen if Michael continued to push on the asteroid after the breakaway point?”

  “There would be a 75% probability of a skip and a 95% probability of you being killed, sir.”

  “No chance of splitting the difference and making it eighty-five eighty-five?”

  “Correct, sir.”

  “You have no sense of humor.”

  “True, sir, but Elf has enough understanding of humor to know that subject is not funny.”

  It was still hours until breakaway, so he had time to think about the unthinkable. She came with me on Origin because she wanted a better life for us and our children. But what kind of life will we have if the asteroid hits? Maybe we’ll freeze to death together with our baby. David shook his head. No! No way. Not Claire. Not if I can do something about it.

  It occurred to him that he could break away from the asteroid, land, pick up Claire and the baby, launch the twelve Pilgrim couples, and fly to Bedford even if the asteroid hit.

  But would it be that simple if Michael was the last chance on Earth for survival? Would we be allowed to take the baby and leave, or would somebody else take the ship? Even if we did get away, what about Amira, Naomi, Omar, and Mark and Al and his family and the other friends we’ve made? How could we leave them to die? What about the other millions of people on Earth? They want to live. They deserve to live as much as we do. What about all the other babies, the children?

  The screen he was staring at was blurred. He blinked and the tears in his eyes rolled down to join the others on his face. David did not want to die. He did not want to leave Claire.

  He wiped his eyes and had to clear his throat before he could speak. “Elf.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “No breakaway. I’m going to ride it out.”

  “That is an ethics decision, sir. Elf cannot approve it. It will have to be approved by President Saleh.”

  “I’m making the decision. I’m approving it.”

  “You are not authorized under the circumstances, sir.”

  David wondered what Elf could do to stop him, and then he remembered the robot in the other maneuvering control compartment. “Get on with it. Get the approval.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  It was several minutes before Amira called David with video. “Are you sure?”

  “I don’t have a choice, and you don’t either. I wish we did.”

  Amira looked down. When she raised her head, tears were spilling down her cheeks. “Your decision is approved.”

  She paused to blot her tears and regain her composure before saying, “There are many on Earth, including me, who love you. Come back to us, General David Archer.”

  “I’ll do my best.”

  “That was not a request, General. You are hereby returned to active duty. That was a direct order.”

  “Aye-aye ma’am.”

  David was left alone to face his future in the heart of a fireball. He put on his spacesuit, belted himself into his maneuvering control console, sealed all doors, and made a final check of Michael’s systems. He set the cooling in the cabin and his suit to maximum, and he was cold.

  I’ll be warm soon enough.

  “Elf, I want to talk to Claire.”

  “She’s not available, sir. She’s in second stage labor in the delivery room. The staff will not approve the call.”

  “Is she okay?”

  “Yes sir, but she’s under enormous stress.”

  “Can you give me one-way video and audio?”

  “Yes sir,” Elf said as a view of the delivery room appeared on David’s screen.

  As David watched and listened, Claire grimaced and grunted during the contractions and squeezed Naomi’s hand, hard. Naomi grimaced, too, but she did not take her hand away. Breakaway time came and went unnoticed as David ached to help Claire. The baby crowned. Then the head and shoulders appeared. David’s control console swiveled to try to protect him from increasing g forces as the asteroid and Michael entered the atmosphere and became a flaming meteor. The ship began to vibrate, and the vibration became shuddering jolts. Heat overpowered the ship’s cooling system and the cooling in David’s spacesuit. Superheated fuel ruptured fuel tanks. He felt awe, heat, and pressure while his daughter was lifted clear. She cried, demonstrating her awareness of the world outside the womb. Directly overhead in the middle of a meteor fireball, clearly visible in broad daylight, her father ceased to be aware of anything. David’s last thought before he went into full cardiac arrest and oblivion was One billion plus my daughter.

  Chapter 48

  In an audio-visual-center down the hall from Claire’s delivery room, Amira watched the meteor fireball flash across the sky.

  “What happened, Elf?” she asked.

  “A skip, ma’am. The asteroid will go into orbit around the sun. It is no longer a threat to Earth.”

  “How’s David?”

  “Elf does not know, ma’am. Communications with Michael have been lost. It is severely damaged and appears to be welded to the asteroid.”

  “How soon can we launch a rescue?”

  “All of the spacecraft that could rescue General Archer were destroyed while helping the asteroid skip, ma’am.”

  Amira was overwhelmed with grief as she realized that David was dead. She put her hands against the wall to brace herself, put her head down, and cried.

  When she was able to begin pulling herself together, she said, “Tell the evacuees when they will be returned to their homes. I will make a statement later.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Amira composed herself as best she could. Then she went to see Claire, who appeared to be exhausted. Naomi looked tired, too.

  As she took one of Claire’s hands in both of hers, Amira asked, “How are you?”

  “I’m bushed. Where’s David?”

  Amira’s tears started again. “David chose to stay with the asteroid to improve the probability of a skip. I approved his decision. The asteroid skipped with Michael severely damaged and welded to its surface. We’ve lost communications and don’t have rescue capability.”

  ▼

  Claire believed the PLC would take her baby if it did not have a father. With Michael gone, there was no escape from Earth and no escape from the PLC. Because of meteors, because of forces beyond her control, she
had lost her mother and David. Now she was going to lose her baby.

  Huge, gasping sobs overwhelmed her.

  Amira and Naomi held Claire and tried to console her. After what seemed like an eternity, she choked out, “I’ve . . . I’ve lost them . . . lost them all . . . to . . . to meteors.”

  With a puzzled expression, Amira asked, “All of whom?”

  “My mother, David, my baby . . . .”

  Naomi said, “Your baby’s here. She’s safe.”

  Claire shook her head, sobbed, and gasped. “No . . . father. The . . . the PLC will take her.”

  Amira said indignantly, “They will not!”

  “They will. They tried to take her when David was here. Now he’s . . . he’s gone.”

  “Listen to me,” Amira said emphatically. “After the PLC meeting on March 9, I read the court transcript of the appeal. I was outraged that you and David were harassed like that! I called two committee chairmen in Congress. They feel, as I do, that you and David were discriminated against because you were from a different time. A bill was passed yesterday grandfathering unlimited parental rights to all persons born before July 4, 2476, the date the present Constitution became effective. I was going to sign it at the White House with you present. Under the circumstances, I will sign it now: Elf, affix my signature to the Parental Rights Bill on my desk.”

  “Yes, ma’am. It has been done ma’am.”

  “Elf, for Claire’s sake, is the bill now law?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “There. You and David and everybody else over the age seventy-eight are exempt from the law requiring a license to have a baby.”

  Claire’s tears of grief became tears of gratitude. After a minute, she pulled herself together enough to ask, “What about David? Are there no options?”

  Amira shook her head. “The suborbs that could have caught the asteroid were sacrificed to help push it off course. Nothing is left that can catch it.”

  With her baby secure, Claire’s emotional strength began to return. As she was drying her eyes, she said, “Elf, get me the president of Bec Corporation . . . , voice only.”