by David Capps
“Basically, yes,” I said.
“And how do we verify the missiles have actually been launched?” John asked.
“Boots on the ground,” Ed replied. “We need observers in the areas where the missiles will be launched.”
“And where’s that?” Tia asked.
“Kansas, Montana, the Dakotas,” Major Samuels answered. “I can show you on a map where they are. It’s not like you have to be standing right on top of them. You can spot a missile launch from a hundred miles away.”
“What about missiles launched from submarines?” Tia asked. “We can’t see those.”
“The land-based missiles have to be launched first because they can be damaged by the meteorites.” Major Samuels said. “The submarines are well under the water and are protected, so they can be launched later.”
“How many observers do you think we will need?” John asked.
“Six should cover it,” Major Samuels replied.
“Okay,” John said, “that we can do. Show me where they have to be.”
CHAPTER 20
As I got dressed in the morning the realization hit me; one week from today the meteorites would be falling all over the globe. I headed out of my room and was walking around to the stairs when I saw the men in hunter’s outfits and rifles talking to John in the great room. Tia came out of her room. I smiled. “Good morning,” I said.
She looked happy to see me. “Good morning,” she replied. As soon as she saw the hunters and the rifles she stopped and grabbed my arm.
“Carl,” she said with a tone of panic in her voice. “John isn’t… Don’t let him do that.”
“I’ll handle it,” I replied.
I approached John as he sent the hunters out the front door. “Can’t we use canned meat?” I asked John.
John looked puzzled.
“Do we have to…” I motioned to the door.
John looked at the door. “Oh, that,” John looked up at Tia standing at the top of the stairs and motioned for her to come down. “You’re concerned that we are killing the animals?” John asked.
Tia looked both worried and distressed.
John smiled. “I have some places in the cave reserved for deer, elk, and a few moose, maybe some mountain goats, if we can find them. The hunters are using tranquilizer darts.”
Tia looked relieved. “What about wolves, foxes and bears?” she asked.
“They all have dens or small caves,” John replied. “The deer and elk have no protection from the meteorites and the fires. They won’t survive without our help.”
“I never thought of that,” Tia said. “What about cows, horses and other animals like sheep?”
“Each of our underground shelters has provisions for animals,” John said. “This is Project Ark, after all. What kind of an Ark would it be if we didn’t take care of the animals?”
Tears formed in Tia’s eyes.
“We have people collecting ducks, geese, cranes and herons,” John said. “We’re saving as much of the world wildlife as we can.”
“How do you decide what to save?” Tia asked.
“Personal interest, mostly,” John replied, “that, and what’s local. I can’t save African Tree Frogs; we don’t have any. But a Survivalist Network member in Africa can.”
“You have members in Africa?” Tia asked.
“We have members in almost every country in the world,” John replied, “Survival is a basic human instinct. Our cause resonates with a lot of people.”
“Do we have some sort of registry so we know what’s being saved and what isn’t?” I asked.
“Sure do,” John said. “Every member has access to the database.”
* * *
Getting up at two thirty in the morning and walking out to the outcropping of rock quickly became our nightly ritual. Each morning more of the visible stars were being swallowed up by the black abyss that was the meteor cloud.
Later that morning Alex called us down into the communications room to see what was happening. A reporter stood on the steps to the capital building in Washington D.C.
“We are here today investigating a report that members of Congress are not in their offices and cannot be located,” she said. The camera followed her up the remaining steps and into the main entrance to the Capital Building. An armed uniformed guard stepped in front of her as she approached.
“I’m sorry ma’am, but the Capital Building is closed today,” he said.
“And where are the Senators and members of the House of Representatives?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t know, ma’am. Have you tried to reach them back in their home districts?”
“I have,” she said. “They aren’t there, either.”
“Well, I don’t see how I can help you, then,” the guard responded.
“Will they be back in their offices tomorrow?” she asked.
“The Capital Building is closed for the rest of the week for repairs,” the guard replied. “So my guess is that they will not be back in their offices until the repairs are complete.”
“And when will that be?” she asked.
“I wouldn’t know, Ma’am. I don’t have anything to do with the repairs.”
The scene switched quickly to the White House Security gate. The same reporter approached the Guard House.
“I need to see the President,” she stated.
“Do you have an appointment?” the guard asked.
“No, I don’t,” she replied, “but this is a matter of national importance.”
“I’m sure it is,” the guard said. “You will still have to call and schedule an appointment.” He handed her a card. “You can call this number right here. They will let you know when they can fit you into the White House schedule.”
“Is the President in the White House?” she asked.
“For security reasons I’m not at liberty to discuss where the President is at any given time. I’m sure you understand.”
“The Vice-President – is he in the White House?” she demanded.
“Ma’am, I’m sure you can—“
“The First Family -- are they in the White House?”
“Ma’am—“
“They’re not here, are they?” she said. “They’ve all left, haven’t they?” she demanded.
“Ma’am, as I said—“
“Is this because of the meteor storm?” she asked.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Ma’am. If you’ll just call and schedule an appointment…”
She turned to face the camera. “Why have the people running our country all disappeared?” she asked, “and why have they disappeared now?”
The segment ended and Alex switched to another channel. Nothing about the disappearance of the political leaders was even mentioned on the other stations.
“They’re all in lock-down in the underground cities,” Major Samuels said. “I’m surprised someone had the balls to run with the story.”
“Yes,” John said, “but without another major news channel running the story, too, it has no support. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the whole story die within the hour.”
“Was that a major news station?” I asked Alex.
“Local station in Washington D.C.,” Alex replied, “not one of the big national ones.”
Major Samuels turned from the screen to us. “It’s not going anywhere,” he said.
“Why not?” I asked. “They can’t just tell the news networks what they can report and what they can’t. This is America!”
“Look,” John said, “whether we like it or not, the major news organizations depend on access to government officials and the White House. Without access, their viewers fall to zero. Their entire business depends on officials and the White House granting them access to information and people. The networks all know that if they run a story without the acknowledged nod from the government they will lose their access, and the loss of their business will follow shortly.”
�
�So they call the White House for every story?” I asked.
“They don’t have to,” Ed said. “Each network has a CIA officer on staff who approves each story before it airs.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I replied.
“And who ultimately controlled the stories that came out of NASA?” Ed asked.
“The DIA and the Pentagon.” I said.
Ed held his hands out, palms up. “Same deal.”
And that’s exactly how it played out.
* * *
Network News featured several experts explaining exactly how the missiles would intercept the meteor cloud and disburse the meteors. Conspicuous by its absence was any mention that the President had actually approved the plan or had any international support from other nuclear armed countries to cooperate in such an operation.
Two days before the meteor storm, Tia and I travelled down to Denver with John, Nancy and Ed. John wanted to be at the media center when the missile launches took place. Network News had been advertising that the launch would take place at four in the afternoon. Something seemed off to me, but I was having trouble putting my finger on it.
As four o’clock approached, we were treated to the images of military personnel sitting at control consoles going through their pre-launch routines. At four, the countdown began and the operators were shown turning both keys that were required to launch nuclear missiles. The tops of the missile silos were blown back and the monstrous Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles took to the air. Launch after launch was shown, with the most spectacular ones taking place in the dark.
“Why do we have a launch in the dark?” one of the computer techs asked.
I thought about his question. Then it hit me. The shuttle launches from the cape all arced to the east. They were using the rotation of the earth to add to the speed of the rocket to attain escape velocity. If the rocket arced to the west, the rotational speed of the planet would subtract from the escape velocity needed in order to attain orbit. It would take a lot more fuel to go to the west, so everything bound for outer space arced to the east. That meant the launches at four in the afternoon were headed in the wrong direction. In order to head into the meteor cloud, the missiles would have to be launched around midnight. They should all be night launches!
“John,” I said, “this isn’t right. The launches should all take place from midnight to three in the morning; otherwise the missiles would be heading in the wrong direction.”
“Carl’s right,” Ed added, “but that’s not the only thing wrong. The uniforms being worn by the military people at the control consoles are wrong, too. They haven’t worn that style of uniform in the last ten years.”
“It’s file footage,” John said. He opened his cell phone and called several of his observers near the missile silo sites.
“No one has seen any missile launches,” John said. “There aren’t any launches.”
“Maybe this is just a prime-time show for the public and the real launches will happen tonight,” Tia said.
“We can’t jump too soon on this,” Ed said, “If we’re going to announce that there are no launches, we have to be right.”
“We have to wait until tonight to be sure,” I added.
“Okay,” John said, “I want a complete analysis done with easy to understand displays ready to go by midnight. We go public if there are no launches by 1:00 AM.”
Tia and I spent the rest of the afternoon and well into the evening guiding the computer techs through the research and graphics development process, while John, Nancy and Ed headed back to the cabin. At ten that evening, John’s limo arrived for our return trip up into the mountains. We arrived at twelve-thirty in the morning and went down into the communications room. As soon as John saw us he shook his head.
“Still no launches,” he said. “I’m going to check once more at one and then I’m calling it.”
As one o’clock approached, John was on the phone with his observers. No launches. John called the media center and instructed them to put all of the information on the website and flood Facebook and Twitter with comments about there being no actual launches of nuclear missiles.
* * *
At two in the morning, Tia and I made one last trip with Ed, John and Nancy out to the rock outcropping to see the meteor cloud. We walked slowly enough that John didn’t have trouble keeping up with us.
“This’ll be my first look at the meteor cloud,” John said, obviously excited by the prospect. “Is it clear what it is?”
“Oh yeah,” I said, “it’s kind of like a mouse watching the Titanic closing in for a collision.”
“A mouse, huh,” John replied.
“You’ll see,” I said.
We arrived at the outcropping and climbed up the back side of the rock to get to the top where we had the best visibility. The blackness engulfed the eastern portion of the early morning sky, almost up to the vertical point above us. The moon was past full and on its way to the third quarter as it approached the meteor cloud. We stood and watched as the white light of the moon faded and turned to red. The moon was moving into the shadow of the meteor cloud, and like a lunar eclipse, the change in available light on the moon changed the color we saw. In a few minutes the moon turned a blood red color. Mesmerized by the drama taking place above us, we continued watching as the moon turned darker red and was slowly swallowed up by the meteor cloud.
“That’s what’s going to happen to the Earth, isn’t it?” John asked.
“Yeah,” I said, “that’s exactly what’s going to happen.”
We stood in silence for a while as the last portion of the moon disappeared into the meteor cloud. Each of us was totally absorbed in our own thoughts about what was ahead of us.
“Ever wonder what it’s going to look like when the meteors begin to fall?” John asked.
“I’ve taken a look at the timing,” I said. “The meteors will start falling over the Atlantic Ocean at about two in the morning, local time. The front edge of the meteors will follow the time zones, so at approximately two in the morning all across the country the meteors will begin. The impact zone will move from east to west and intensify until dawn.”
“How long will the meteors be visible before they start hitting the ground where we are?” John asked.
“My guess is that we will be able to see the meteorites about an hour before we start getting hit,” I said. “They will probably start near the eastern horizon and gradually climb into the sky overhead.”
“Do you think it will be safe to watch them before they get here?” Tia asked.
“I don’t see why not,” I replied, “as long as we are in the cave before the meteorites hit.”
“It sounds like you are planning to be there to see them,” Tia said.
“I am,” I replied. “This whole thing got started because of me. I want to be there to see it actually happen.”
“You want any company?” Tia asked.
“Sure,” I said, “I’d love some company.”
“That include me?” Ed asked.
I chuckled. “Yeah, that includes you,” I replied.
“This sounds like one I’m going to sit out,” John said. “How about you, Nancy?”
“My responsibility is taking care of you,” she replied. “I’ll be wherever you are.”
“So it’s a date?” I asked.
“Yes, it’s a date,” Tia replied.
“Yeah,” Ed said, “a date with destiny.”
“I see what you mean about the mouse and the Titanic” John said. “This is the most ominous thing I have ever seen.”
“Yeah,” Ed said, “It’s absolutely overwhelming. It makes me feel so insignificant that… Well, I don’t know what to compare it to. I’ve never had this feeling before.”
“Neither have I,” Nancy said. “It’s almost like the hand of God reaching out, ready to crush the world.”
We stood in silence for a while staring up into the blackness that would soon engulf
the world in total destruction. Without another word, we made our way back to the cabin and went to bed.
CHAPTER 21
I awoke at six feeling tired and restless. I wandered around my room not knowing what to do. I got dressed and went down for breakfast. John was already up making pancakes and eggs.
“Care for hash browns?” he asked.
“Yeah,” I replied, “that would be good.”
John opened the freezer, took a package of hash browns out and spread them on the grill. Nancy came out of John’s room and joined us.
I began feeling anxious but didn’t understand why. As I was eating my eggs and hash browns the feeling intensified. I started walking around the great room, pacing, trying to figure out what was happening.
“Carl,” John asked, “you all right?”
“Something’s wrong,” I said. “Seriously wrong.”
“Like what?” John asked.
“That’s just it… I can’t tell what it is. I just know something is very wrong. We have to do something -- I just don’t know what it is.”
Nancy came over and checked my pulse rate and looked at my eyes. “I don’t think it’s anything physical,” Nancy said. “Maybe if you sat back down.”
“I can’t sit down,” I replied. A sense of panic was starting to build in my chest. “I have to…” I looked over at John.
“The media center,” I said. “Oh God no! Get everybody out of the media center NOW!”
John grabbed his cell phone and speed dialed. “This is an emergency! Get everyone out of the building NOW! RUN!” John shouted.
“Carl, what the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know. Are they out of the building yet?”
John asked if they were out yet. I could hear the sound over John’s cell phone. It was loud. “There’s been an explosion,” John said. “How many?” he asked. He waited for a response. John looked over at me. “Two dead, more than a dozen injured,” he said. “How did you know?”
“It’s not over,” I said; the feeling of panic was still building inside my chest. “Go get Tia! Bring her down to the communications room, NOW!” I shouted as I headed for the stairs.