Asteroid Crisis

by Kevin J. Anderson

  “This can’t be,” Pi said with alarm. “Somebody else is accessing the file from an unsecure station!” He touched the screen, called up other menus like a bloodhound on the scent. “It’s in the Exercise Module—which is usually empty at this hour.”

  “Why would anybody be looking at asteroid orbits from the colbert?” Tony said, referring to the zero-gravity treadmill.

  JJ had an unsettled feeling in her stomach. “We’d better check this out. It doesn’t seem right to me.”

  Tumbling in the air and using his gymnastics skills, Tony shot through the hatch from Central into the node room, then zoomed forward with JJ and the others following close behind. Song-Ye and Dylan joined them from the lower decks. Together, they passed through the Mess Module and headed toward the Fitness Module, where astronauts used stationary bikes and magnetic treadmills to keep their bodies from deteriorating during long-term weightlessness. Tony grabbed handholds and sped forward like a bullet. He guided himself well, though he’d had only a day to become accustomed to weightlessness again. They crowded and tumbled into the Fitness Module.

  JJ absorbed the scene in a flash. Tony let out a loud gasp, then a growl. “Mira!”

  The turncoat girl was at a monitor screen, copying the asteroid mission plan. JJ didn’t have to ask—she knew Mira would use the information to sabotage human efforts to deflect the asteroids. “Mira, stop!”

  The auburn-haired girl whirled, but didn’t argue or try to challenge them. Instead, she grabbed the strange device she was using to download the files, kicked off, and shot through the opposite hatch like a cannonball.

  King launched himself after her. “We can’t let her leave with that information!”

  Dyl, who had trained as a communications officer on the moonbase mission, activated a wall intercom. “All hands, we’ve got an intruder! Mira just left the Fitness Module with sensitive info. Help us find her before she disappears again!”

  JJ worried that the other girl had a pinger like the ones the Star Challengers carried; Mira had used a similar device to escape them last time. Gritting her teeth with anger that this one girl—someone her own age—could be so intent on harming the future of humanity, JJ didn’t hesitate. She zoomed after Mira and yelled, “If those asteroids hit Earth, do you know how many people you’ll kill?” As she and King pulled themselves through the node room, they caught a glimpse of Mira racing through the Chemistry/Material Sciences module. Two scientists who were floating at their stations turned to look in amazement at the chase.

  Breathing hard, Mira shouted back, “I’m trying to undo the damage you’re causing. Mentor Toowun told me the truth!” Her voice was bitter. “You’re making my job so much more difficult than it has to be.”

  “We’re trying to save Earth,” King called. “You have to trust us.”

  “I don’t think you know the truth,” JJ added. “If you’ll just listen—”

  Mira reached the opposite end of the CMS module, and JJ suddenly felt hope. She knew something the other girl did not: The module on the other side of the node room was already detached for the asteroid missions and the hatch was sealed off. Once Mira reached the small chamber, she’d have nowhere to go.

  Except, it wasn’t entirely a dead-end. The Kylarn starfish ship was docked to the upper hatch.

  With a final sneer, Mira ducked into the node room. JJ found a wall handhold and yanked herself forward as hard as she could and shot past King, but the other girl had already scuttled into the cramped cockpit of the alien ship. Mira called down, “I got what I needed, and this ship is a bonus.”

  “Wait!” JJ yelled, but Mira activated the Kylarn docking controls, the ones JJ herself had figured out how to work only the previous day. A plate sealed across the opening, and JJ knew with dread that Mira intended to fly off with the alien craft. She heard the faint shifting, grinding sounds that meant the flexible Kylarn metal was preparing to release from the hatch.

  King plunged into the node room and grabbed JJ, jerking her back out into the module. He sealed the hatch, closing off the node room just as the starfish ship detached with a thump of decompression. The air escaping from the sealed chamber pushed the Kylarn ship away. Mira activated the alien engines, setting the vessel atwirl, then accelerated and spun away into space. JJ was panting hard, sweat beading on her forehead. Mira had gotten away. Again.

  King looked horrified. “You could have been sucked out into space! She wasn’t going to give you time to get to safety.”

  “I couldn’t just give up that ship,” JJ panted.

  Colonel Fox, Security Chief Napali, and two of her officers arrived, accompanied by the startled scientists from the CMS Module. Before Fox could ask, JJ let out a long sigh. “It’s too late, we couldn’t stop her. She has all the plans for the asteroid mission—and she stole the Kylarn ship.”

  ***

  Thirteen

  “We can’t let Mira keep us from trying,” JJ said. “If the asteroid missions are our best hope, we still have to do what we can.” Everyone aboard the ISSC knew she was correct.

  They had gathered for an all-hands meeting again, and this time the Mess module was crowded with more than twenty people in the single chamber. The crew-members nearest the walls grasped hand-holds; others seemed comfortable just drifting.

  “The propulsion systems on all three mission ships tested perfectly,” Bronsky said. “We’re ready to launch. We’ve got to go, even though that girl discovered our plans.”

  Security Chief Napali was furious with herself for having failed to detect the intruder, although JJ had privately explained to her that no one could have noticed Mira’s arrival on the station, since she had been transported there, just as JJ and her friends had.

  King said, “We don’t know what Mira’s going to do with the starfish ship and the information.”

  “Nothing good, you can count on that,” Dyl muttered.

  “We may be disappointed, but it doesn’t change our mission,” Ansari said.

  Dr. d’Almeida showed her astronomical charts to the gathered station personnel. “We have to launch our missions on time, if our spacecraft are going to intercept the asteroids.”

  Ansari announced, “I will command one of the three missions, Colonel Fox the second, and Captain Bronsky the third. Using the plasma space drive, the voyage time is between 29 and 33 days. Each module requires three people, just enough to accomplish the mission. One to guide each ship and two to place the warheads.”

  Fox looked at JJ and her friends. “You aren’t planning to go along with us, are you? This is most likely a one-way mission. The modules don’t have enough air, food, or water for the three required crewmembers to make the return trip.”

  Ansari nodded. “The volunteers aren’t coming back. We’ll be sacrificing our lives to plant the warheads and destroy the asteroids.”

  King started with surprise. “There’s got to be another way.”

  “I’m afraid not,” Fox said gravely.

  “Yes there is,” JJ said. She drew close to Fox and Ansari and spoke in a whisper.

  “The modules might not have enough supplies for three people to make it back, but they can take one or two. When you’re close to the asteroids, we can transport in, help plant the warheads, and transport out.” Her gaze was serious. “It’s the only way this will work.”

  Ansari nodded. “It could work, indeed. How will you be able to make such an exact rendezvous?”

  JJ removed her pinger, the small hand-held object that looked like a bracelet with faint glimmering lights inside. “If you carry one of these aboard each mission module, we can catch up to you as you approach the asteroid.”

  “But don’t we need that pinger?” Song-Ye asked.

  “We’ve each got one,” JJ reminded her. “Dyl, Tony, we’ll need yours, too—to track the other two mission modules.” After her brother and friend reluctantly removed their pingers, JJ handed them to Ansari.

  The Stationmaster looked curiously at the strang
e devices.

  “We’ll use these to pinpoint your location. Then we transport in and help you,” JJ explained.

  Dyl leaned toward Song-Ye and pretended to speak into a voice recorder. “Cadet’s Log: The fearless blond cadet once again demonstrates her grasp of classic Star Trek problem-solving.”

  Ansari gave JJ a wan smile. “Something else I need to take on faith, Cadet Wren?”

  “We have to believe in ourselves,” JJ said. “And I hope you can believe in us, too.”

  The Stationmaster gave them all a fond look. “So far you’ve surprised me, all right—I don’t doubt your potential.” She held the three pingers. “I’ll place one of these aboard each module.”

  After Ansari left, the Star Challengers went into the small node room at the end of the Mess module. Everyone else had quickly gone back to their own duties. With the asteroid mission preparing to launch, the ISSC was a hive of activity. As soon as they were alone together in the chamber, and King had sealed the hatch, Song-Ye blurted, “Are you crazy? Now only two of us have pingers! Are the rest of you going to stay in the future? What are you thinking?”

  King had already guessed JJ’s plan. “Commander Zota didn’t need locators to find us on our first two missions.

  If we stand close together—like here in the node room—one signal should be enough for him to find all of us.”

  “That’s just a theory,” Song-Ye said.

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Dyl said with a chuckle. “Only one way to find out for sure.”

  Tony took JJ’s arm, and she flushed when she realized he was closer than he needed to be.

  Song-Ye activated her device. Although the lights grew brighter, her lips drew down in a frown. “I don’t think it’s working.”

  JJ gave Ansari a thumbs-up and suddenly felt a lurch, as if she had just dropped from ten feet up and landed heavily. Gravity pulled on them again, weighing them down. Dyl looked crestfallen, and Song-Ye grabbed his arm, helping him remain upright. “I’ll be fine,” he said.

  “At least we know we’re back home.” JJ opened the door of the dark transport chamber.

  Commander Zota was there, his face filled with curiosity. “Were you successful? You all appear to be safe.”

  “Kylarn ships did a flyby of the ISSC,” Tony blurted, “but they didn’t fire on us.”

  “And I flew the captured alien ship,” JJ said.

  “Right … just before Mira stole it,” Dyl added.

  “As in, she’s still trying to sabotage our efforts to save the Earth,” Song-Ye said. “And she has all the plans for the asteroid mission.”

  Zota’s face was grave. “That does not surprise me. I don’t know how far Toowun will go.”

  JJ proudly withdrew the index cards from her pocket. “I have the dates and coordinates we need.” In a rush, they told the commander about the plans to send three separate modules out to the asteroids, and then use nuclear explosions to knock the space rocks into different orbits, just like a cosmic game of billiards.

  When JJ explained about placing the pingers aboard each module, Zota was both pleased and troubled. “An ingenious idea, Cadet. Now we’ll be able to send you precisely where and when you’ll need to be.” Then he frowned. “But now the ISSC crew knows you’re from the past? They know who you are?”

  “No, just a few of them,” Dyl said.

  “Believe us, we had no choice—Dr. Kloor figured it out himself,” Tony said.

  JJ sighed. “We told them as little as possible, but we couldn’t hide it anymore.”

  “I suppose you are right,” Zota said. “They already realize how much damage the Kylarn can inflict—perhaps it’s a good thing. You helped expose Mira along with Toowun’s plans.”

  “They’re not going to underestimate the danger, that’s for sure,” Tony said. “All in all, I think it helped.”

  Zota looked at the notes JJ had written, silently making calculations in his head. “We’ve only just started the mission, cadets. Refresh yourselves. Have something to eat and drink. And when you’re ready, I will send you into the future again. Your next stop will be the asteroids.”

  ***

  Fourteen

  Now that he had the asteroid mission specifics, Commander Zota gave them another briefing before sending them back to the future.

  “There are practical matters you didn’t need to consider on your previous travels. In the mission modules, every item will be carefully rationed. For a voyage that lasts a month each way, the crew have to bring everything with them—the oxygen they breathe, the food they eat, the water they drink, and the energy they use for all systems aboard.”

  “Right. So we can’t stay long,” JJ said. “In and out, that’s all.”

  “We could take them some extra supplies, too. Like energy bars,” Dyl said. “I know I always like getting a surprise treat on a long trip.”

  “That’s a good idea. There are some in the pantry. I also have spacesuits for you to put on before I transport you to the asteroid mission modules,” Zota said. “Quarters will be tight aboard, and the commanders needed all available space for supplies. I doubt they will have spare helmets and equipment.”

  “So this is strictly a Bring Your Own Spacesuit party,” Dyl said with a chuckle.

  Song-Ye grinned. “Get serious, Junior.”

  “Also,” the commander continued, “to send all of you into a single module would be too much of a drain. You’ll have to split up—two sets of two, and one of you will have to go solo.”

  King raised his hand. “Eagle Scout King, reporting for duty, sir. I’ll go solo. I’m used to being independent.”

  “Thank you, Cadet King,” Zota said.

  “Tony and I will go together,” JJ said, not just because she preferred to be with her close friend, but because she knew Dyl would want to be with Song-Ye.

  “Very well. Because there are locator devices in each of the three modules, and you’ve provided me with the mission timetable and coordinates, I can easily place you aboard each craft.”

  Tony showed his enthusiasm. “We’ll go first.”

  “Pfft,” Song-Ye made a face. “Since we’re using a Kylarn time machine to travel to any time we choose, being ‘first’ is kind of irrelevant.”

  “We’ll each get our turn,” JJ said.

  In the briefing room, they ate chips and salsa and drank some soda. JJ ate a Moon Pie, one of her favorite treats. Moon, sweet Moon, she thought. Dyl guzzled an entire can of root beer, even though it wasn’t cold. If water and food were so scarce aboard the asteroid modules, they didn’t want to deplete any of the mission supplies.

  “We’re off to the asteroids,” JJ said.

  Mr. Zota said, “You should arrive just as the module reaches its target. Assist in the deflection mission, then signal me as soon as you know you’ve succeeded.”

  “We’ll be back before you know it,” King said.

  “You sound sure that we’re going to succeed,” Dyl said. JJ grinned. “Someone’s got to go kick some asteroids—might as well be us.”

  Aboard the ISSC, each of the connected modules had seemed relatively spacious, with a contained volume larger than a school bus, plenty of room for the drifting astronauts and researchers to move around and perform their tasks. When JJ and Tony appeared inside the module for Asteroid Mission One, though, her first thought was how crowded the place would be if she had to spend two months here cooped up with other personnel.

  Colonel Fox was the first to notice JJ and Tony arriving in their spacesuits. He turned, and his face lit up with surprise, then pleasure. “I was wondering when you cadets would be joining us, now that we’ve arrived at the asteroid.”

  Even Dr. Kloor seemed pleased. “From past experience, I expected our young visitors to appear just as things were about to happen.”

  JJ removed her helmet, and Tony did the same. The air in the module smelled stale, but Fox and Kloor were probably used to it. The travelers appeared tired and edgy
, their nerves frayed.

  “Boy, it looks like you’ve had a long trip,” Tony said.

  JJ agreed. “I remember our long rover expedition on the Moon, Colonel Fox. You, King, and I went a little stir crazy being stuck in that vehicle, and that was for only a few days.”

  “Indeed, we’ve had to become very good friends cooped up in this tin can for a month,” Fox said, “but I gave orders at the outset that no one was allowed to get cabin fever.” Though the British officers voice was matter-of-fact, JJ recognized it was a joke.

  “Even after we finish at the asteroid,” Kloor added, “we’ll have another month before we get back home.”

  “And two to six months more before the asteroids pass Earth,” Fox said.

  After removing and stowing the components of their suits, JJ and Tony drifted forward to look out the windowport, where they could see a glinting bright star—the reflective surface of the approaching asteroid. From here, the Sun was much dimmer, farther away, although it still bathed the asteroid in a glow.

  “Speaking from a defense perspective, there’s nothing wrong with an uneventful trip,” Kloor said, “it gave me a chance to catch up on my reading.”

  Fox added, “We’ve been through the ship’s library, played games, and composed messages to our families. Thankfully, we can now implement our mission objective.”

  On one of the module’s screens, Colonel Fox displayed the location of Earth and the orbiting International Space Station Complex, then a line that showed the trajectory of Asteroid Mission One, which was about to intersect the asteroid’s path. JJ saw the spinning animation of the solar system, watched the tiny dots of Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, and Jupiter gliding along their orbits at varying speeds. All of the planets seemed to follow circular paths, but the asteroid was in a highly elongated orbit.