“Arggh!” You two set me up?!”
“Yeah, I’m excited to get started too, but after the comet scare we don’t want to take a chance of wiping out humanity by importing some disease organism that happens to think we’re particularly tasty. Roger, can you feel out Dr. Bynewicz to see if she knows someone in the medical field that might have the expertise we need? I’m going to talk to my Astronomy prof. I’m taking a class in the search for extra-solar planets, though I’m not sure it’s a research area for him. If he isn’t really an expert in what to do, maybe he can point us to someone who is?”
“Really? Are you ready to announce this to the world already?”
“I don’t think so. I’m thinking to address it as a hypothetical. If that doesn’t work, I’m thinking that I’ll have him sign a non disclosure agreement before talking about what’s really going on.”
Roger said, “Do you want me to approach Bynewicz the same way?
“Yeah, I think that’d be good.”
The End
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Author’s Afterword
This is a comment on the “science” in this science fiction novel. I have always been partial to science fiction that posed a “what if” question. Not everything in the story has to be scientifically possible, but you suspend your disbelief regarding one or two things that aren’t thought to be possible. Then you ask, what if something (such as faster than light travel) were possible, how might that change our world? Each of the Ell Donsaii stories asks at least one such question.
“Comet!” continues an exploration of the question, “what if wormholes were possible, connecting one location in our space-time continuum to another?” This exploration continues to focus on small wormholes, connecting vast distances, and in this case allowing small rockets to be fueled and driven to enormous speeds. Because the formula for kinetic energy (K=1/2mv2) squares the velocity component, high speeds translate into huge energies. In this case, energies capable of dealing with a comet threatening the survival of the human race. It is hard to imagine an object weighing five kilograms (11 lbs) moving an object weighing 300 million metric tons, but with a high enough velocity, it can be done.
Acknowledgements
I would like to acknowledge the editing and advice of Gail Gilman, Elene Trull and Nora Dahners, each of whom significantly improved this story.
Comet! (an Ell Donsaii story #5 ) Page 24