by Larry LaVoie
“Who am I speaking with?” Martin Downing asked curtly.
“Merry Christmas,” the voice changed to English. “This is Juan Fernando. I am the scientist on call.”
“You mean this isn’t Arecibo Observatory?”
“Yes, it is, but we are home for the holidays.”
“Who is manning the equipment?” Martin demanded.
“The computer. It does not take a vacation.”
Martin hung up and called Lisa’s cell number. He knew she too was gone for the holiday. When he didn’t get an answer, he called the Keck Observatory to see if he could get a number where she could be reached. Janice Collins, one of Lisa’s interns, answered the phone.
“Keck Observatory,” Janice speaking. “How may I help you?”
Martin explained to her that he needed a number where Dr. Wilson could be reached.
“I’m sorry Dr. Downing. The only number we have for her is her cell. The last I heard, she was spending Christmas with her family─”
“Her family is in Portland,” Martin interrupted. “Do you have that number?”
“I’m sorry,” Janice said.
Martin hung up and after several more tries reached Roberta Forester, Director of FEMA.
“I’m sorry to disturb you on your holiday, but we have a problem,” Martin Downing said after introducing himself. He explained that the third asteroid seemed to be altering the original trajectory of Dark Angel and there was a higher probability of an impact with the moon.
“What kind of certainty is there?” Roberta asked.
“Understand, nothing is one hundred percent. If the impact happens, the worst-case scenario would be the moon shifting in orbit enough to cause some tidal surges along the coastlines, both Pacific and Atlantic. We don’t expect the Gulf Coast states to be affected.”
“But, you are talking worldwide?” Roberta queried.
“Places that have major tide movements will be affected the most; for instance, the coastline of Alaska, not only along the coast, but for several miles up the rivers would see widespread flooding. We expect the Pacific Coast of Canada, Washington, Oregon, and California to be impacted the greatest on the first high tide after the impact.”
“You’re talking flooding. We can order an evacuation,” Roberta said.
“Probably as bad as a hurricane surge. Tides may be as much as ten feet higher than normal.”
Roberta considered this for a moment. “This could be disastrous. How much time do we have?”
Martin shook his head. “Mind you, this is a worst case. Chances are the asteroid will miss and we’ll have another thousand years to figure out what to do next time it approaches. The water will rise gradually, not like a tsunami, but devastating in low lying areas.”
“While we’ve been talking, I’ve alerted the emergency teams around the globe to get the word out to expect higher than normal tides and some coastal flooding, but I don’t see any reason to cause more panic. You can’t tell me for certain this will occur.”
“After the event we’ll be able to assess the criticality of the impact more accurately,” Martin said.
“One more question,” Roberta said. “If an impact occurs, are we looking at a onetime event or …”
“The impact with the moon will only happen once, but if the simulation is accurate, the flooding will occur at high tide twice every day. We will have to reset the lunar calendar.”
“Actually, I have one more question,” Roberta said, “because I know this question will be asked. How is it this was missed?”
“I don’t have a good answer for that, Ma’am, we’ve been watching this asteroid for about a year, but because of the direction of its approach we missed the two companion asteroids. It’s extremely complex.”
“Don’t expect me to be the last one to ask this question. I’m going to give you my direct number. When you have more information, I need to be informed immediately.”
Martin took down her direct number and hung up. Suddenly he wished Lisa had gotten the job instead of him. Telling millions of people they could be flooded out of their homes on Christmas Day wasn’t an assignment he looked forward to. As he tried to reach other agencies within NASA, Martin felt alone. He thought about the simulation. How many times had he said nothing like this would ever happen in his lifetime. To be fair, he was talking about an asteroid impacting the earth, but the moon was even a smaller target. He watched the simulation again as he waited for an answer on the other end. This time he focused on the moon’s orbit after impact. The impact skewed the moon’s orbit by 40,000 miles at its closest point. As the moon rotated around the earth, and the earth rotated around the sun they would all be in alignment at certain times of the year causing even greater tidal movement.
Chapter 18
Yellowstone Park, three hours until impact
As they had grown accustomed to doing in the two days at Old Faithful Lodge, Susan Street and Hilda Wilson sipped wine and talked of their children. There was no doubt, each wanted their children to find the right partner and give them grandchildren they could enjoy for many years into the future.
Hilda had talked at length about Lisa’s past failures at romance. “She has a habit of picking out strong men who become jealous of her intellect. She is a very smart girl.”
“Cody has always put his work first,” Susan said. “He has been in love, or at least I thought he was, but something is different when he is around Lisa. Honestly, I’ve never seen him so smitten.”
“Lisa broke up with a man last year,” Hilda said. “We never got a chance to meet him even though they dated for three years and were supposedly engaged, but I never saw a ring. I don’t know if she just wasn’t that serious about him, or she was ashamed of him. She was upset when they broke up, but I’ve never seen her happier than she is when she’s with Cody. Cody is a fine young man. Nathan thinks the world of him.”
“It’s apparent he wanted to get the families together,” Susan said, taking a sip of Merlot. “I was amazed he was able to pull this off.”
While their mothers were talking Cody and Lisa were preparing for another trip up the mountain. They packed hot coffee in a thermos and each had a small backpack with binoculars, warm blankets, extra mittens, and freshly charged flashlights. The latest weather said it would be -14ºF at the top of the mountain with clear sky. Bundled up like Eskimos, they bid good bye to those family members gathered around the fireplace and headed out the front door where Rick had earlier delivered a snowmobile.
“I’m hoping this is the biggest non-event in celestial history,” Lisa said, climbing on the machine and wrapping her arms around Cody.
“Hang on,” Cody said, pulling out from under the covered entry.
In thirty minutes they pulled alongside the same rock where they had watched the stars two nights earlier. Cody lifted his ski goggles from his eyes and helped Lisa with her snowshoes.
“Same rock,” Cody said, dusting off the snow and spreading a blanket.
Lisa slipped off her backpack and retrieved a pair of binoculars.
“I want to stand.” She waited for Cody to retrieve his binoculars and they walked a few yards. They had a 360º view of the sky. Lisa focused on the moon and moved the glasses slightly.
“It’s a full moon,” Lisa said. “We could observe it better if it was a new moon.”
“Like we have a choice,” Cody said. “Which side is the asteroid coming from?”
“It will be moving left to right. I can see it, but the brightness of the moon will wash it out in a few minutes.”
“How much time do we have before it passes it by?”
“You don’t sound as excited as I am,” Lisa said.
“I’m excited. I watched Hale Bopp back in ninety-seven.”
“This won’t be anything like a comet,” Lisa said, keeping the binoculars glued to her eyes. “Have you located it yet?”
“I see it,” Cody said. “It looks like a shiny pea moving toward the moon.�
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“That’s it. It will be lost in the light of the moon as it passes by on the far side.”
“There it goes. I can’t see it anymore,” Cody said.
“Keep watching,” Lisa said.
Both of them kept the binoculars to their eyes. Suddenly there was a bright flash and then the sky lit up like the sun had suddenly risen. The flash was great enough it was as bright as daylight for a brief moment.
“What the hell,” Cody said stumbling backwards and falling to the snow.
“Oh no,” Lisa said. “It impacted.” She bent over like she was in pain. “This can’t be happening!” she screamed.
Cody got up and brushed the snow from his snowsuit. He grabbed her. “Are you all right?”
She didn’t answer, but looked up at the moon without her binoculars. “Look.”
Cody saw the moon was glowing like it had increased in size. “Holy shit, that’s scary.”
“You’re seeing a halo. The dust from the impact is being reflected by the sun. It will gradually grow smaller as the debris is pulled back to the surface, but it could take years.”
“That was one hell of an impact. I thought you said it was going to miss.”
“We’ve got to get back,” Lisa said. “I need to get on the NASA website. I can’t believe this got past us.”
“It’s not your fault,” Cody said. “Didn’t you tell me there are hundreds of scientists who are watching this?”
“You don’t understand.”
“What don’t I understand?”
“This is my asteroid.” Lisa was shouting and crying. Her lips curled and she shook her head. “Come on. We have to get back.”
“Okay, I’ll take us back.” He glanced up at the strange white orb in the sky, wondering what it all meant.
Back in the lodge there were several people anxiously talking about the event. Even without binoculars the moon glowed easily twice as large as it had been an instant before the impact. As Lisa walked through the door, Nathan stepped up on the fireplace hearth and raised his voice. “Attention everyone! Can I have your attention? My daughter is an astronomer working for NASA. She just came through the door. She can explain what has happened.”
“Is the moon going to explode?” someone shouted.
“What happened?” one of the guests asked.
Cody made his way through the crowd of mostly family members, clearing a path for Lisa. He was as anxious as they were to hear what she would say.
Lisa stepped up on the hearth beside her father. “It was a spectacular event that was expected to turn out differently. About forty minutes ago, the moon was struck by a massive asteroid. It was a glancing blow, otherwise it could have been much worse.”
“What do you mean?” Blake yelled. “You knew the moon was going to be struck by an asteroid?”
“Quiet, everybody,” Lisa yelled. “There is no reason to panic.” She waited for the room to quiet down. “About a year ago we discovered an asteroid that was on a trajectory that would cross through the earth’s orbit. At NASA we call these NEOs, an acronym for near earth objects. NASA employs hundreds of people to watch the skies for objects that could pose a threat to earth. We determined this asteroid would miss earth by over two hundred thousand miles. We knew it was going to come close to the moon, but the experts said it would not impact the moon. I need to get on my computer and see if I can find out why that determination was obviously wrong.”
She hopped back to the slate floor of the lodge. “You want to go to my room with me?” she asked Cody.
“Honey, these people want answers,” her father said.
“I know. If I can’t get to my computer, I can’t get any answers.”
Cody and Lisa ran up the stairs to Lisa’s room. Cody stopped at the door. “I’m going to grab my computer from my room. Don’t lock me out.”
Lisa dropped her backpack to block the door open.
Cody returned in two minutes with his computer. He went inside and nudged the pack out of the doorway and closed the door. He saw Lisa was already on her computer and didn’t disturb her. He sat on the bed, opened his laptop, and brought up the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory website. He scrolled through the readings from the many instruments placed around the park. No alarms were going off. Everything was quiet. He double checked the sites around Yellowstone Lake and saw the readings were stable. He breathed a sigh of relief and turned to Lisa who was kneeling on the plank floor and using the bed for a desk.
“Everything in Yellowstone is quiet,” he said.
She glanced up at him. “I know what happened.” She fished her cell phone out of her pocket and turned it on. “I can’t believe I forgot to turn my phone back on.
“That was day before yesterday,” Cody said.
She had the phone to her ear.
“Martin, what’s going on?”
“Lisa. Where the hell have you been?”
“Never mind that.” she put the phone on speaker so Cody could hear and held the phone out in front of her. “I thought Dark Angel was going to be a near miss?”
“Obviously if you would have answered your phone you would have known there was a second asteroid discovered.”
“I know, Demon.” Lisa looked at Cody. Her lips were pursed and her eyes narrowed.
“Not Demon, a third asteroid. As Dark Angel approached the moon the three asteroids lined up with the earth and the moon in such a way that they coalesced and changed orbit, causing all three to impact the moon. But we have a problem.”
“I’m listening.”
“The impact was large enough to shift the moon’s orbit by thirty-nine thousand miles at its apogee.”
“You’re saying the moon will come thirty-nine thousand miles closer to the earth.”
“At its apogee,” Martin repeated. “We don’t know yet what the perigee will be.”
“I can tell you it’s going to be too close. Have you notified Homeland Security? The tidal effect will be catastrophic.”
“That was what I was going to say. We’ve already notified FEMA, Homeland Security, the Coast Guard, and NOAA. Where the hell are you that you don’t already know this?”
“I’m in Yellowstone National Park. No televisions here.”
“Well, I suggest you get your ass out of there and back to Hawaii. We’re going to need everyone on board to handle publicity on this. Better yet, swing by the LA office and hit the airwaves. That area is going to be devastated at the next high tide.”
“Martin, didn’t you hear me? I’m not exactly someplace where I can grab a plane. I’m not even certain how long it will take me to get out of the park.”
“Lisa, this is big. You need to get out of there and get to a NASA facility. Call me when you arrive.” The phone went dead.
Lisa gave Cody a worried look. “How soon can you get me out of here?”
“I can’t do anything until morning. The snow taxi only operates in daylight hours. I could try and take you out by snowmobile, but that’s a good four hours just to Mammoth. From there another three hours by car.”
“Let’s do that,” Lisa said. “Get me out and you can come back for my parents.” She grabbed her suitcase and started throwing things in it.”
Cody heard a sound from way off, a low rumble that seemed distant. He grabbed Lisa and they both hit the floor. The building shook, knocking over the dresser and bouncing the bed across the room. The window shattered and glass flew in all directions as if a bomb had exploded. Screams came through the noise of collapsing timbers and crashing and shattering glass. The lights went out and the room was lit only from the moonlight streaming through the broken window. Lisa started to get up. But Cody held her down with him.
“That was only the first one.”
“What do you mean first one?”
“Trust me. That may not have been the worst one.”
He held her tight as the lodge shook again, this time knocking pictures off the wall and bursting the door open like someone had sud
denly kicked it in. They started to slide as the floor tilted at a steep angle. Huge logs burst from the notches, snapping the pegs that had held them in place for a century. Cody tried to grab onto something to keep them from crashing down with the roughhewn timber and pine boards. There was nothing to hold onto. The building creaked and groaned as it dismantled like a house of cards in a hurricane. Cody held onto the only thing he could get his arms around: Lisa. They rolled and slid as the building crumbled. A minute later they were flying through the air and then hit with a thud in deep snow. In the freefall, Cody had turned over and Lisa landed on top of him, knocking the wind from his lungs. He lay there motionless unable to catch his breath as Lisa struggled to get up.
“Are you hurt?” she asked.
Cody was surprised at how light it was outside. The halo around the moon had increased in brightness. He could clearly see Lisa’s worried face. He shook his head, no, still not able to speak. Like Lisa, he was starting to put events together and he became terrified.
Lisa moved to the side and pulled on his arm. Finally, he said. “This could get a lot worse.”
“Worse?”
“We’re laying in the snow and the lodge just fell down.”
“Sometimes earthquakes come in swarms and this one was at least an eight. He doubted any of the seismographs in the park could have recorded it without pegging themselves out. He had never felt a quake anything close to this one. He stood up and saw the pile of rubble that had been the lodge. He heard crying and calling for help. “We’ve got to get them out,” he said. “In this weather they’ll freeze to death in an hour.”
“I still have my cell phone,” Lisa said. “I’ll call for help.”
Cody was surprised she had managed to clutch the phone through the ordeal, but he also knew it would be useless. A quake as large as they had just experienced would have easily knocked out every cell tower in the park. He also knew that without help his family and Lisa’s parents would be at the mercy of the elements, and quite possibly would freeze to death if they hadn’t already been killed by falling logs and rocks from the fireplace. Fortunately, he and Lisa hadn’t stopped long enough to remove their snowsuits, so they were pretty well protected, but those inside were not dressed for the elements.