In Situ

by Frazier, David Samuel

  For some reason, unknown even to him, Batter had also called all of his ex-wives. One he had been unable to reach, and had simply left a message of apology. It had been vague and general, but he had apologized nonetheless for basically being an asshole. The other two, he had reached, and had stammered his way through the awkward conversations, essentially doing his best to say the same thing without revealing the real purpose for his call. When he was done, he felt better. Batter couldn’t remember ever really apologizing for anything. It wasn’t nearly as painful as he had expected.

  Batter glanced at his watch. They had passed the 24 hour point. One day to go, he thought. Tomorrow at this time, there was going to be one hell of a sunset. He went to the bathroom and checked himself in the mirror. It was the first time he could remember ever noticing his age. He prodded his face a bit, examining it closely, then shrugged as he grabbed his sport coat and headed for the door. Batter had arranged a dinner date with Tom, Alex, and Pete. He was interested to hear about the Arzats, and he knew it was going to be very difficult to get Alex—and possibly even Pete—to let go of them tomorrow when the ARC locked down. Might as well get a head start, he had reasoned, heading out the door.

  *

  Batter’s dinner guests had already been seated by the time he arrived. He noticed that they were in a lively conversation that abruptly ended as he approached the table. If he hadn’t known otherwise, Batter might have thought they were in any busy fine-dining restaurant. There were five different commissaries within the ARC and this one was styled after a famous restaurant in DC. He considered it a ridiculous waste of funds, but it was there, so he figured he might as well take advantage of it.

  Batter pulled up a chair and sat. “What’s everyone drinking?” he asked as affably as possible, feeling as if he were the odd man out. Once everyone had cocktails, the discussion opened up again.

  “They are simply amazing,” the beautiful Alex Moss was saying, her green eyes sparkling in the light of the restaurant. “Tom had no problem communicating with Mot at all. Did you Tom?”

  Tom only nodded. He had been very quiet since they had left Ara and Mot, and Alex had begun to worry about him. Usually, she could read his mind almost as well as she could Mot’s. Something was going on, some wheels were spinning about something, but she did not know what. She resolved to make a point of asking him after dinner, but at the moment, she was preoccupied with convincing Batter to allow them to move the Arzats into the ARC.

  “How about you, Pete? What are your thoughts?” Batter asked.

  “Well, I finally received the results back from the lab tests of the mysterious goo they were packed in. Mostly it consisted of some kind of prehistoric animal fat. But there was also a high content of a glycerin molecule in the material that appears to have come from a plant species that is probably extinct. It might just be the ‘missing link’ for the cryogen project we thought it was. Some of the scientists have already tested it on individual cells and there is no apparent breakdown whatsoever under freezing conditions. It seems to be the ultimate cryo-protectant we were looking for. Of course, we still need to do a lot more testing, but it shows real promise.”

  “Very interesting,” Batter said as their entrees arrived.

  “Oh, one more thing,” Pete added, “we have also determined that we were over-freezing. There is no need to go nearly as low in temperature. It now looks like the ideal point is right around zero degrees Celsius, with a very slow cooling of the body. It appears that the caves must have somehow managed to hold around that approximate temperature all of those years.”

  “Any idea how that might have happened, Tom?” Batter asked, trying to draw him into the conversation.

  “No,” he said, shaking his head, “it is just about as close to a geological impossibility as the resurrection of Christ or-for that matter-the resurrection of the Arzats. There are a lot of mysteries about that site, like where in the hell that hot spring came from.” Tom was obviously still very bothered by the unexpected turn of events that had almost killed Alex.

  “Well, you needn’t worry about it anymore,” Batter announced. “I ordered them to shut down the entire Utah operation right after you showed up,” he said, finishing a bite of New York steak.

  Tom gave him a guilty look.

  “Hah, don’t worry about it Tom,” Batter said, noting his reaction. “It was a lost cause before we knew about this new asteroid. At 28 days, we were still way out from having it complete in time for it to be useful. At two days? No sense in prolonging the pain, right? I figured I might as well let everyone who could get home to their families. Of course, they have no idea why, but that’s the way it has to be,” he said regretfully. “On the bright side, Tom, you seem to have inadvertently won an invitation to this ARC. Pete and I are sure we will be able to use your expertise as well as Dr. Moss’s in the future. Right Pete?”

  Tom just took another bite of his dinner. Why am I not grateful for that, he wondered.

  Now or never, Alex thought. “Batter, we have to figure out a way to save the Arzats.” She had been waiting the entire dinner to say it. She looked hopefully to Pete for backup, but he had a sad look on his face that was less than inspiring.

  Batter took a long sip of wine and slowly set down his glass. He looked directly at Alex. “I am sorry, Doctor, but that is not going to happen. If it were up to me….”

  “But it is up to you,” Alex interrupted, pleading.

  “No, Alex,” he continued. “It is up to these people,” he said, gesturing around the crowded room. “Look around, Doctor, and tell me if you think your two friends will really have any chance in the days and weeks and months to follow with these people. I am a student of human behavior, Doctor. Your Arzats will have no chance with them. I think even you know that,” he finished, taking another bite of steak.

  Alex could say nothing. She knew that Batter was right and she knew how things would go. First, there would be seemingly innocent questions about who or what they were keeping. Then inquiries would arise about the resources being wasted on the lizards. It all became clear to her. Batter was right, but still.

  Batter finished chewing and calmly took another sip of wine. “Frankly, Doctor, I am worried enough about your friends in this room. And I’m not, of course, referring to Tom or Pete. When these people find out the severity of the situation tomorrow, and the place actually locks down, there may be more than a few of them who will be unable to adjust.”

  All of them at the table knew exactly what Batter meant. After the President’s speech there was no telling what would happen.

  Alex suddenly found that she had tears in her eyes. She was tough, and not one for crying in public. She tried blinking them away but neither Batter nor anyone else at the table failed to notice.

  Batter took another large sip of wine. “I’ll tell you what,” he said, trying to appease her, “tomorrow is a long way off. Let’s sleep on it and regroup after the general meeting. It has been a long tough ride for everyone. There is time enough. For now, I think we could all use some rest.”

  Alex looked up hopefully.

  “But, Doctor, I hope you will strongly consider what I’ve said, if not for your sake, for the sake of your Arzat friends. Let’s wait until after the President’s speech to make the final decision. Right now,” he said, rising from the table, “I think it is time to say goodnight. Pete, would you be so kind as to help Alex and Tom locate their quarters and perhaps,” he said, eyeballing them, “a change of clothing? I hope it is not too much of an inconvenience to share a room. For the moment, we seem to be short on space.” Batter winked at Tom and Alex and walked out.

  Pete led Alex and Tom back through the maze of corridors and helped them find their room. “He’s right, you know,” Pete said to Alex sadly as he left them.

  She knew that the idea of locking out the Arzats was bothering Pete as much as it was her, so she did not respond. She watched him as he disappeared down the long hallway.

  A
lex took a shower that was automatically timed at one minute and Tom did the same. It was barely long enough to scour off and rinse. Tom tried to explain some of the fantastic recycling features of the ARC, but it did little to impress her. An aide arrived sometime in the process and delivered some fresh clothes. Aside from the obnoxious shower, the place operated like a five star hotel. I wonder how long that’s going to last, Alex mused as she pulled on a large military T-shirt.

  “What are you thinking about?” she asked as Tom as they got into bed.

  “Not what I should be,” Tom said, looking her over.

  “Come on Tom,” Alex said, dismissing his weak attempt to be amorous rather than answer her real question. “I know that mind of yours. You are up to something,” she said, laying her head close to his.

  Tom looked at her. She did have the most beautiful eyes. “I’m trying to figure a way out of this mess and into your pants.”

  “Of course you are. You wouldn’t be the man I know if you weren’t doing both. I’ll tell you what: you get the first part of that worked out, and we’ll talk about the second,” she said, turning off the light and pressing close to him. “What’s that you’re always saying? ‘It’s not over till the fat lady sings,’” she said, instantly asleep.

  Tom lay awake for some time, running his plan over and over in his mind.

  *

  Pete had gone back to the compound and checked to make sure that Ara and Mot had been fed and that they were given control of the lights in their enclosure. He walked up to the gallery and the enclosure was dark. The only way he knew for sure the Arzats were there was the infrared imaging that was displayed on one of the monitors. It appeared that the two were sleeping very close to one another.

  Pete smiled as he left them, thinking of his own wife Hanna and his children, picturing them asleep. He had struggled through a phone conversation with Hanna earlier in the day, attempting to sound normal, fighting his desperate desire to warn his family. It was better this way, he continued to try to convince himself. There was no hope for them, so why worry them needlessly? He had, on several occasions, struck out for the entrance determined to head for home, but he had ultimately turned back each time. This was always a possibility, Pete reminded himself, and he had sworn to do his duty in exactly this kind of situation.

  When he eventually reached his room, he calmly prepared for bed, then got down on his knees and prayed for the asteroids to miss. Pete was an avowed atheist.

  *

  Batter was in his quarters, working his way through the last in a series of novels about vampires. He was already a chronic insomniac, but in the last few days he found that he could barely sleep at all. He found that such fantasy books required little thought and allowed him to relax. Batter eventually put the book down and was about to doze when the phone beside his bed rang. He was used to hearing bad news and instinctively prepared himself for more.

  “Sorry to disturb you, Sir, but I have a secure call for you from a Dr. Jennifer Daniels from the Haleakala Observatory. She says the matter is urgent,” the operator said.

  “Send it through,” he said, then hung up and waited. The phone began to ring again, and Batter reluctantly picked it up. “Batter here.”

  “Mr. Batter, this is Dr. Jen Daniels, I am the chief astronomer for Pan-STARRS,” she said, her voice shaking. “I just got off the phone with the President, and he said that I should call you directly, Sir. He said,” she continued, “‘Batter will know what to do.’ He asked me to repeat that to you when we spoke.”

  “Go ahead, Doctor. I’m listening,” Batter said as gently as possible. Whatever this young lady’s message was, she was delivering it with a death warrant on her own head that she would be well aware of, yet here she was still at her post reporting.

  “I am sorry, Mr. Batter, but the computers have just recalculated the projected impact of the asteroid.” The statement was followed by a long silence.

  “And?” Batter finally mustered the courage to ask.

  “Well, Sir, it appears now that it will touch down somewhere very near the coordinates of thirty nine degrees north by one hundred and fourteen degrees west,” she said, her voice cracking. Batter could easily imagine the phone shaking in her hand.

  “Pardon me, Doctor, but could you fully translate that?” but he already knew the answer. Batter was very aware of the longitudinal and latitudinal coordinates of the Nevada ARC.

  “Very close to your current location, Sir, with a plus or minus variance of only two or three degrees.” Jen paused.

  Batter did not answer. He was immediately busy trying to come up with a solution, any solution, but at the moment he couldn’t think of one. The Colorado and Kansas ARCs were already full and too far. Utah wasn’t finished. There was basically nowhere to go.

  “I am sorry to say, Sir, that with an impact so close the chances of survival are… uh, minimal.”

  Batter tried to answer, but he suddenly found himself without words.

  “Sir?”

  “Oh, ah, yes, Doctor?”

  “Sir, will there be anything else? I mean, we are all preparing and…,” the Doctor had just delivered a death sentence, and hers was on its way. She was finding it difficult to speak.

  “No, Doctor, Jen is it? Thank you, Jen. Good luck.”

  “You too, Sir.”

  He held the phone to his ear and listened as the line clicked and the phone went dead.

  Chapter 34

  Where Is The President?

  They were almost late for the meeting. Alex and Tom had slept in and grabbed a quick breakfast at one of the commissaries, then stopped by the Primate Compound to check on Mot and Ara. They avoided direct contact, not wanting to speak to the Arzats until after they heard the official word from the President, and had met with Batter.

  The meeting was set for 1200 hours, Area 51 time, and when they finally arrived it was already 1154. The chamber was packed, with the House and the Senate on the lower floors and the rest of the attendees in the wings and on the balconies. The room very closely resembled the Congressional Chamber in Washington, with the exception that it was much more modern and had two very large screens right and left of the stage.

  As they were seated, Alex looked around the room. She guess-timated that it could probably accommodate a thousand, and the place was packed. She could see Batter, standing off to the side of the Vice President’s podium, watching everyone closely. By the doors, she noticed two or three dozen security personnel standing with their hands behind their backs wearing side arms. Batter’s riot police, she thought.

  The mood in the chamber was anything but somber. Old acquaintances met, and the room was a cacophony of happy chatter. Most were under the impression that immediately after the meeting, they would be heading back to Washington and home. When Alex glanced back towards Batter their eyes met for just a moment, then he looked away.

  A large digital clock was displayed on one of the screens. When it rolled to 1200, the VP rose and rapped his gavel on the podium.

  “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the Congress, the Court, and all. Let me be brief. We are about to hear from the President of the United States. After that, I will have a few comments and will be available for questions.” Just as the Vice President, stepped away from the podium, the giant screens flashed to the Oval Office. An aide was still fitting a microphone to the President’s lapel.

  “Good morning fellow Americans,” he said in a somber tone looking directly into the camera. “A few weeks ago, one of our most advanced telescopes, known as Pan-STARRS, identified what the astronomers refer to as an N-E-O, a near-earth-object. In less technical terms, it means an asteroid or meteor that will pass close to our planet. At first, there was little concern, but, as time passed, our computer system plotted a complete map of the arc of the object’s orbit that suggested a high probability of impact here on earth sometime 28 days from now.”

  There were startled looks in the Chamber, but no one moved, their eyes
locked on the screen.

  “If that were not bad enough,” the President continued, “our astronomers have now determined that a ‘shadow asteroid,’ that could not at first be seen, is traveling right in front of the one first discovered. It will arrive much sooner.”

  There was a gasp in the room. Some people started moving in their seats, some tried to head for the doors. The security teams stopped them with weapons raised and waived them back to their seats.

  “The exact scope of the damage these asteroids will inflict is not precisely known, but it will be substantial, and will affect the entire planet and the environment we live in. Our scientists have been working around the clock, trying to find a solution, but so far they have found none. We simply do not have the resources to deal with this kind of situation,” the President paused and took a deep breath. “It is with great regret that I must announce that at approximately 9:17 pm Eastern Standard Time we anticipate an asteroid to strike the Pacific Ocean just off of the coast of South America. Other authorities, from around the world, are making similar announcements as I speak.” The President stopped looking at his notes, and took off his glasses. He had just lied. He knew the scope and the damage, and exactly where the asteroid was going to hit-and it wasn’t in the Pacific Ocean. “I wish there were something more to say, some thread of hope I could pass along, but the situation is dire. The future of mankind is in jeopardy, along with the lives of all living things on the planet. I hope you will all help each other. The government of the United States will do all that it can while it can. Since our communications system is likely to be a casualty, I wish to express my deepest regrets and concerns to all of you at this time. While they are able, every major radio and television station will be broadcasting the latest status. May God bless you, may God bless the United States of America, and may God bless this world.”