Everyone had a good laugh at Jack’s reply, which lightened the heavy atmosphere in the room. Jack thought, maybe you could call that an ice-breaker. Trueman started to get down to the nitty-gritty.
“Well, Jack, the thing is this - the ice-miners and regular stuff won’t be going with you on the Oceanus II. They have been shifted back and will be going out three weeks later on the Oceanus I.”
Forgetting where he was, Jack interrupted the President.
“Oceanus I? Ah thought she was at Delta Base for a refit -?”
Trueman wagged a finger at Aaron Eckler to explain, who promptly obliged.
“Commander Crossan, you probably are aware that a lot of new projects have been progressing even before you arrived back from your last Mars trip. As part of the new-build budget approved jointly by Congress / UN / LOIN for a fleet of new Oceanus space-liners, we were able to set aside some money to fast track the refit on Oceanus I. We need her back operational ASAP to do the regular Mars run. Admittedly, a three week delay on the schedule is going to piss off a lot of staff – and ice-miners – on Mars waiting to get home.”
Jack looked puzzled.
“So am ah taking the Oceanus II out empty? Ah thought she had done all her proving trials?”
Eckler got Trueman’s nod to continue.
“That is correct. Oh Two has passed all her space trials and she is the most advanced spacecraft ever built by humankind. On top of that Ari and Ewan’s calculations show that the solar winds, plus the 3R / Mars alignment, projects a less than 14 week trip for you and your special cargo, Jack. That’s why the regular shipment has been put back by three weeks.”
“Ah’m takin’ some sorta special cargo?”
Trueman indicated to Eckler that he would take over the explanation.
“Jack, before we detail what you are carrying to Mars, which is of the utmost importance, ah need to tell ya somethin’ truly awful, which only the people sittin’ in this room are privileged to. Oh and just a handful of others around the world who are sworn to absolute secrecy. At some point we are going to have to divulge this info, but now is not yet the right time as we are still at the forward plannin’ stage. Therefore, we need to know that you can keep this knowledge under your hat until such time when we can reasonably announce this to the world at large. Can you, Jack?”
“Ah guess so. Yes sir!”
Jack tried to sound confident but he shifted nervously in his seat. Trueman looked around at Ralston, Gupta-Chaudry, Shalomon and Suleiman and they all nodded for the President to continue.
“Jack, you already know that we have announced that this Schenkler HMM2 comet thing – incidentally named after Ari here – is on a near-miss collision with Earth an’ that the tail of this thing is going to cause quite a bit of collateral damage?”
“Ah did hear, sir, that we might be shiftin’ some vital equipment to Mars to avoid possible damage –“
“Yes, Jack, we did sorta put out that story. But that is not it. You see, Jack, the comet is not goin’ to be a near-miss after all. It is goin’ to hit Earth!”
“Jee - zus – sorry, Mister President! It’s goin’ to hit 3R – what sort of damage are we talkin’ about?”
“Mr Sinclair – can you explain please?”
Ewan gulped nervously. Never in his wildest dreams did he ever envisage that he would have to explain his theories in front of the most powerful men in the world.
“W-well, Jack, ah, Commander Crossan, you see at this very moment the Schenkler comet is not actually on a direct collision course with Earth and if it remained on its current trajectory through the solar system it would indeed fly by and miss us by a whisker and we would only suffer collateral damage from tail debris. However, when the comet passes Jupiter in almost exactly a year from now, our predictions show the pull of the gas giant’s gravitational force will ever so slightly adjust the comet’s path and put it on a direct collision course with our planet. Would you concur, Ari?”
“Absolutely, we have gone over these calculations a million times and we are 99.9 per cent certain – we will be 100 per cent certain after the Jupiter pass.”
There was a slight impasse in the meeting as all this started to sink into Jack’s brain. It was Crossan who spoke first.
“So, what kinda damage are we lookin’ at? Billions dead, nuclear winter, what?”
It was Aaron Eckler who replied.
“Jack, have you ever seen a dum-dum bullet hit a watermelon?”
Jack gulped visibly and his mouth went dry. All he could think of at that moment was Peggy Sue, his boys Milner and Jack Junior and his dad Andy. He did not even nod or reply. Trueman came in with almost a soft whisper.
“It is total, Jack – oblivion! After May 2084 there will be no Earth. But that has to stay between us all until the Jupiter pass to give us time to plan an evacuation to Mars. By that time even amateur astronomers will have worked out we are going to be totalled!”
Jack nodded dumbly and he tried to suppress the rising bile in his throat. He wanted to run out of the Oval Office, run to his family, but he knew that he was called here to carry out a mission for his country, for his world and he shook himself back into the here and now.
“S-so where do ah come in, Mister President?”
Trueman indicated to Beth O’Donnell to carry on with the details.
“Your cargo on the Oh Two will be made up of three main component projects, Jack, with the variously trained specialist staff for each individual project. The first project involves the installation and eventual deployment of newly designed interspacial ballistic missiles with the most powerful nuclear warheads ever devised –“
Mullah Abdullah Suleiman interjected with a pleased smile on his face.
“We came up with that – or should I say it was a joint Iranian / Israeli venture. Apologies for my intrusion, Mister President, please carry on Miss O’Donnell.”
“The plan is to deploy the nukes from the Martian space stations when Schenkler – sorry Ari – when the Schenkler comet comes at its closest point to Mars.”
Jack look puzzled.
“So we can destroy this thing – or shift its trajectory?”
Ewan Sinclair answered.
“This astral body is just over one and a half times the size of Pluto, Jack. It will be like hitting it with a peashooter!”
“Jeezus – sorry again Mister President – but what the hell is the point?”
Trueman indicated for Beth O’Donnel to continue with the explanation.
“Carry on, Beth.”
“The point is that we need to give the world some sort of hope, Jack. After the Jupiter pass we have to announce to the world that we are facing oblivion. We have to announce that we are trying the nuclear strike from Mars to give us breathing space, to, uh, to –“
Trueman finished Beth’s trailing sentence.
“To try and stop the breakdown of world order, Jack. By the time the nuclear strike fails and the comet passes Mars then anybody who ain’t on the Big Red or well on his way there won’t be going anywhere but to meet his Maker!”
Beth got the okay to continue her presentation.
“The second project is the first delivery of materiel and construction workers to begin the expansion of the super-glass pods which will hold all the new immigrants, livestock and crop production plants. Based on the small-scale tests of cattle and crops already on Mars we believe that we can successfully expand on those tests to provide a reasonably reliable food source to meet the needs of the immigration program. Pod materiel will continue to be transported from 3R for as long as deemed possible – probably until late into 2083.”
Jack was trying to do impossible sums in his head. All he could think of was that Oceanus I could only carry a maximum of 350 passengers per trip and he tried to fit seven and a half billion humans into his computations. His
head was spinning.
“How many immigrants are we talking about?”
“Realistically, twenty five thousand tops.”
Trueman interrupted, raising his voice somewhat and making all heads turn towards him.
“Whoa there just a minute! Twenty five thousand? Eckler – when you briefed us before you estimated we were talkin’ between forty five an’ fifty thousand?”
Eckler and O’Donnell looked at each other, then down at their notes and Eckler spoke.
“S-sorry, Mister President, but once we reviewed all the factors, the timescales, the construction project and the limitations put on us by the amount of livestock and crop seed that we could realistically shift, w-we had to review the numbers down. We are not even a 100 per cent sure we can even hit twenty five –“
Trueman thumped the Oval Office desk hard.
“Aw, Jesus Christ, this whole fuckin’ thing just gets worse every time ah hear about it!”
The meeting collapsed in on itself as each started murmuring with their neighbour about the implications of the drop in numbers and how it might affect their own backyard. Trueman thumped the desk again to bring everyone back to order.
“Okay! Okay, let’s say twenty five thou tops. We might have to live with that. But Eckler – I want you and O’Donnell to look again at those numbers and if there is any way of getting them up – then find it! Right, Beth, let’s start wrappin’ this up for Jack – and no more surprises –“
“Yes, Mister President. Okay Jack, the third and final project to be delivered by Oh Two relates to the E2MSN. This is where Gary Mackintosh comes in and I’ll let Gary explain. Gary?”
Gary thought along similar lines to Ewan’s nervous thoughts earlier in the meeting but he swallowed hard and threw himself into his spiel.
“The problem we face Commander Crossan is that if and when our wee planet is destroyed we effectively lose overall control of the Earth to Mars Satellite Network. Ah have been workin’ with the team in Houston to develop new supercomputer equipment to transfer the control of the E2MSN from Earth over to Martian control. If we lost computer control on Mars after Earth is destroyed then mankind would be thrown back into the dark ages. You will be transporting the equipment and computer boffins who are goin’ to set up the transitional transfer of the network over to Big Red control. The NASA guys have given it just the worst possible acronym – NOAHSARK!”
Someone mumbled Noah’s Ark as a question and Gary continued with an explanation.
“NOAHSARK – Network of all Human Specific Archives Records and Knowledge. Basically, once the network is fully functional on Mars we intend to digitally transfer just about anything that we humans have learned, written down or spoken about in the last one million years. The feelin’ is that our continued survival depends on retaining all our combined knowledge. The bottom line is that we are the only living organism on this planet that knows we are getting’ blown to Kingdom Come. Using all that knowledge might teach our Martian survivors that one day they will also have to move on out of the solar system to ensure the survival of the human race.”
That sobering thought made everyone pause for horrified reflection. Beth broke the silence.
“That’s it in a nutshell, Jack – Mister President?”
Trueman began winding up the meeting.
“Well, Jack, you look as terrified as the rest of us feel. Are you prepared to take the Oceanus II on its maiden voyage now knowin’ what we all know an’ keep it under wraps?”
“You gonna shoot me if ah don’t, Mister President?”
Everyone in the room burst out laughing with relief from the tension. Jack nodded his assent.
“Sure, ah’ll take the Big Baby to Mars for ya, sir.”
*
Earthdate: 20:30 Wednesday September 24, 2081 EST
That same evening, following the debriefing meeting with Jack Crossan in the Oval Office, Ewan and Gary caught an air-taxi out to Washington Dulles Airport. As the Scots pair stood in the arrivals lounge for the incoming Virgin Galactic supersonic from London Heathrow, Gary noticed Ewan was on edge.
“Ye look a wee bit nervous, Ewan?”
“I’m just looking forward to seeing her. She’s been through a lot this year and I’m just hoping she’ll be happy to see me – eh, I mean us, Gary –“
Gary slipped his arm around Ewan’s shoulder and hugged him tightly.
“Och, stop worryin’ yerself silly, Sinclair. Tell ye what? If she does na want ye, then ye know ye can always have me – free gratis!”
Ewan laughed half-heartedly.
“Gaz, you know I love you, mate. But just not like that.”
Gary felt a small pang of unrequited love shoot through his heart. Then they spotted that the arrival passengers had started to file out past the US Customs declaration areas and there, looking thoroughly professional and, at least to Ewan, drop-dead gorgeous was Jill Geeson. Ewan blurted out.
“JILL!”
She waved excitedly and the three school friends threw themselves into each other’s arms and hugged and cried. Gary brought them all back down to Earth.
“Right, you two. Stop yer blubberin’ an’ let’s get an air-taxi to the hotel. We’ve booked intae the nearby Candlewood Suites for the night an’ then we fly down to Houston tomorrow afternoon. We’ve got two rooms – an’ dinnae worry Jill – Ewan and me are sleepin’ together tonight!”
Jill pushed Gary teasingly on the chest.
“Och, Gary Mackintosh, you’ve not changed a bit this side of the Pond!”
After settling in to their rooms at the Candlewood Suites Dulles the three Scots all met down in the bar for a quick couple of night caps before retiring for the evening. Jill went into detail on her exciting new post. Her role at the London Times had effectively been scaled back by Bill Buckley. She was now to become their Houston-based correspondent dealing directly with all the emerging and reportable issues relative to the Schenkler HMM2 comet. This meant that Jill had to provide two columns per week on any new developments to the Times bloid and for that she still reported to Buckley. Jill told Ewan and Gary that Ruthie Venters had been promoted to Jill’s old job as Investigative Reporter. Ruthie was now such a deep friend to her and Jill said how much Ruthie had supported her through and after the abortion. In fact, they had supported each other as Ruthie also needed a shoulder to cry on after witnessing the terrible death of her father Rolf at the Harvard Medical Center bombing. However, the exciting part of Jill’s new role was as the newly created post of Houston Correspondent for Sky News, part of News Corps International, as was the London Times. It had always been Jill’s ambition to become a specialist correspondent on television. Ewan and Gary told Jill about their meeting at the Oval Office, although, of course, they did not divulge any details on the top secret aspects of the meeting. They did give Jill a heads up on Jack Crossan taking the new Oceanus II on its maiden voyage and Jill agreed that she could do an interesting feature on that development. Ewan and Gary also agreed to introduce Jill to their bosses Aaron Eckler and Beth O’Donnell. They assured Jill that if anything on Schenkler was going to be released through official channels then she would hear it first through Eckler or O’Donnell. Jill asked them all about Houston where amazingly the three friends were all now going to be working.
“So, Ewan, you said that you’ve found a place for us all to stay in Houston?”
“We have, Jill. For the first three or four months when Gary and I started on our respective projects we stayed in hotels. By that time we were both bouncing off the walls and Beth O’Donnell suggested one of the Houston Controllers was looking to take in boarders. It’s a great place in the south-west suburb of Robindale with a big room for Gary and me and a separate one for you. And it has a swimming pool too.”
“Wow, sounds great!”
“There is only one small problem, Jill –“
“Well, the guy – he’s a nice guy – name’s Lex Kosloff – well, he’s a recovering alcoholic. Lost his wife recently, nearly lost his job too. So that means no drink allowed in his home.”
“Ah think we can all cope with that, eh boys?”
Gary threw in his usual joke.
“Speak for yersel’, Jill. Ah like a wee drink now and then. Ach, it is no’ too bad. There’s a wee Irish bar just two blocks down. You’ll like it as it’s very apt for you. It’s called the Craic Pot!”
“Ha, ha! Very funny Gary Mackintosh.”
Gary felt it was time to skip out and leave Ewan and Jill and let them have a quiet moment together.
“We-ell, guys, ah’m knackered. If you two guys don’t mind ah think ah’ll call it a day.”
After Gary went upstairs to the room that he and Ewan were sharing, Jill and Ewan nervously sipped their drinks, neither knowing what to say. Ewan broke the ice.
“God, Jill, you don’t know how good it was to see you arrive tonight. You look so beautiful –“
“Ewan, ah was so happy to see you too. Ah really need your friendship –“
“Friendship – and hopefully – something more? Jill, I still have strong feelings for you.”
“Ah know you do, Ewan. Ah don’t think you ever lost them. But ah need to ask you to take it slow. My own feelings about Khan and the baby are still all over the place. Ah’m still carrying a lot of hurt and rejection in my heart and ah need time to heal.”
Ewan took Jill’s hand gently in his. His eyes told Jill that he would give her all the time she needed and that he would be there for her when she felt ready.
Chapter 19
Earthdate: 10:15 Monday November 2, 2082 EST
The big yellow New York air-taxi arrived in front of the United Nations HQ building on FDR Drive. Marcie Venters paid the driver and made her way quickly into the main building in good time for her scheduled 10.30am meeting. A good deal of progress had been made on the Super-storage of Human Procreative DNA programme and most of the planned medical centres were now fully operational, including an additional centre in Tehran as agreed and sponsored by Mullah Abdullah Suleiman.
2084 The End of Days Page 26