Jeremy. Please come home—your mother is worried about you.
Jeremy texted back. I’m doing fine, Dad. Don’t worry about me. I’m going to stay up north for a while. I’ll tell you when we get to Vail.
Jeremy felt guilty for running away, but he was just doing it to be safe, and his friends needed him. His parents would not have come with him even if he had asked them to go sooner, and at the same time he thought they would be relatively safe. Anyone who took power would want to make use of his Dad’s contracting abilities. For now, Jeremy put it out of his mind. At least my parents won’t have to worry about me, he thought.
Jeremy walked over to the master bedroom and knocked on the door.
“Hey, we should get going, alright? Let’s leave in ten minutes.”
“Sure,” a muffled voice replied.
Jeremy took a shower and woke up Anna. Jeremy turned on the television and saw aerial footage of San Francisco. He could see the streets burning.
“What’s going on?” Anna asked, blinking at the TV.
Jeremy turned the volume up. A reporter was speaking. “. . . the West Coast. San Francisco is now the center of anarchy. The military has been forced north of Golden Gate Bridge. They’ve been cut off south of the airport. It is unclear what is going on in San Francisco at this moment. For those of you just tuning in, San Francisco has fallen. San Francisco has fallen. I’m also getting word right now that Utah, in conjunction with the Mormon Church, has shut its borders.
“Whoa . . . ” Jeremy said.
“Yeah . . . ” Anna gasped, unable to think of anything else to say.
Jeremy looked at his friends’ horrified faces.
The reporter continued. “The rockets that have been leaving Cape Canaveral and Southern California and Alaska are not all observation satellites, but in fact are nuclear weapons aimed to move the meteor off its course.”
“Didn’t Dr. Miller say it was a comet?” Anna asked, looking up at Jeremy.
“Shh.”
“We’ve been given word that they have all been working as planned, and should reach the meteor in two months’ time. The question remains: with NASA’s shaky history, who’s to say those bombs will reach the meteor? Who’s to say some of them won’t fail, and descend back onto our country? Jacksonville, North Carolina, considered by some to be the ‘buckle’ of the Bible belt, along with many prominent Southern Baptist preachers, have mentioned that the coming meteor is not a coincidence, but that the meteor coming toward Earth is in fact the work of divine intervention. It did not come from deep space; it came from God Almighty. God is coming, and He is mad. He is coming as He did in Noah’s time, and is going to wipe out the sinners from the world, and bring those of us who have led pious lives to Heaven.”
Anna shut off the TV. “We don’t need to listen to this nonsense,” she said.
Dustin sat with his phone in his lap, reading the NASA press release issued just after President Chaplin’s speech.
“He isn’t even right,” Dustin remarked. “The reporter said that it came from outside the solar system, but it actually came from the Kuiper Belt. He’s not even right about that.”
Jeremy looked behind the couch, where Karina was staring at the TV, a tear rolling down her cheek.
“Are you okay?” Jeremy asked.
Karina didn’t answer, walked past them briskly, and sat down in the other room.
“What’s up with her?” Jeremy whispered to Anna.
“She’s a pretty strict Christian. Her family went to an Evangelical church. I remember she used to tell me stories from the Bible when we had sleepovers. Stories about Noah and stuff.”
“You don’t think she actually thinks that Judgement Day is coming, do you?”
“I don’t know, it’s hard to say. I’m not saying that God picked up a rock and threw it toward Earth, but maybe he influenced the meteo—comet in some unknown way,” Anna said, deep in thought. “If the comet does actually hit us and we all die, that’s just it?”
“What do you mean?” Jeremy asked Anna.
“I mean, if we all die, what do you think will happen to everyone on Earth? All our . . . souls?”
“Nothing,” Jeremy said quickly. “I think it’ll all just end.”
“That’s sad.”
“Yeah, I guess it is . . . ” Jeremy said.
Jeremy packed his bags while the others did the same, and they got ready to leave. The group walked down the hallway and clicked the button for the lobby. Jeremy looked over at Karina, who seemed to have recovered from what she’d seen on television. When the elevator doors slowly opened, there was no one in sight. The receptionist post was empty, and there was an eerie air in the building. To Jeremy it felt like the air was thick, like flowers would wilt faster if they were breathing this air too long.
Suddenly, Karina spoke up and stared at Anna. “I have to go to the bathroom.”
It took her a second to understand, but then she quickly replied, “Oh, I’ll go with you!”
Jeremy and Dustin then waited for them outside the girls’ bathroom.
“What was that all about?” Jeremy asked.
“Karina and I made out last night,” Dustin said excitedly.
“Really?”
“Yeah, man, but it was weird. You guys were asleep on the pullout and I was in the shower, and I just got out, and Karina was lying on that big bed. I don’t know where she came from. Then we started cuddling, and then . . . you know . . . And after she was super upset, like a different person than before.”
“What do you mean?”
“She kept on crossing her heart like the Catholics do, and saying, ‘It’s coming,’ over and over again.”
“I don’t know, man . . . ” Jeremy replied, unsure of what to make of it either.
“They’re probably talking about it right now in the bathroom,” Dustin murmured.
“Oh, that’s definitely what they’re doing,” Jeremy laughed.
Dustin punched Jeremy in the arm, and then they were quiet for a while. The total quietness of the hotel was very evident, and their steps created an eerie echo in the marble lobby.
The girls came out of the bathroom, and the walk to the car was a bit awkward, but before long they were talking and joking around again, driving out of Dallas. Oddly, they did not see anyone on the roads, but since they had woken up so early perhaps this was normal. They made sure to drive around Fort Worth, thinking it might be better to avoid major cities.
Anna took the wheel to start, with Karina as the navigator.
Meanwhile, two hundred miles away, Robert’s daughter Jennifer, whom Robert had asked Jeremy to take care of and check in on, was also driving with her husband and daughter toward the Rocky Mountains. A map of the Rocky Mountains lay open on Jennifer’s lap. Jeremy’s number was scribbled in the top right corner with “For Emergencies” written under it.
“It’s magnificent!” Robert gasped, gazing in wonder at Gerald Jan’s spaceship.
“This can escape Earth’s orbit?” Suri asked.
“When it’s ready,” Gerald said, his arms folded, looking up proudly at Vishnu.
Robert stood on the factory floor of SpaceX’s largest facility in Hawthorne, California, next to Suri and Mr. Jan. The factory was enormous. At four stories tall, it looked three times the size of a Costco. Every five minutes or so a worker would run up to Gerald and rattle off some numbers, at which point Gerald would nod or make a quick comment. Then the worker would scribble something down on his clipboard and scurry off.
Robert looked in awe at the huge spaceship that Mr. Jan had built with the help of his team at SpaceX. It looked like a gigantic metal egg lined with bulb-like protuberances that looked like tumors. There were rows of these little tumors going up the craft. This hulking mass reminded Robert of some of the more unpleasant-looking inventions of the age—like the Honda Element, or those hats that held beer cans.
“It’s designed to orbit the comet, with a lot of three-dimensional maneu
verability,” Gerald began. “What I’m hoping is that these little bumps, the bulbs, are places where we can affix nuclear bombs, which can shoot down at Shiva with devastating accuracy, and with a real-time effectiveness. And the best part is that this ship will be manned.”
“Seriously?” Suri asked, astonished.
“Oh, it’s not nearly done, but since the ship will orbit the comet, it will be one of our best weapons in widening the gaseous jets.”
“It looks like it’ll be difficult to maneuver her though,” Robert commented. “She’ll need a lot of flexibility in motion.”
“Exactly. She’s pretty heavy, but up in space we’ll make good use of the reverse thrusters to get her into orbit with the comet. We learned a lot from the European Space Agency’s Rosetta Satellite. Vishnu can act as both a vessel from where we can launch bombs, and a way to maintain a close visual on the comet as it comes closer to Earth.”
Gerald looked clean and was dressed in a simple black T-shirt, belt, and khaki pants. For someone who hadn’t grown up in the tech revolution, seeing Gerald Jan in the flesh was not particularly awe-inspiring for Robert, who saw him as another billionaire entrepreneur. But to Suri it felt like she was meeting the President of the United States—which was saying something considering she’d already done that. Gerald was the man that all her friends at MIT idolized—the tech “god” who taught them to work harder than anyone else, be creative, and never stop innovating.
“When is your launch date?”
Suri had to admit that the spaceship was aptly named. Vishnu was known as the “preserver” or “protector,” one of Hinduism’s three major gods. Considering Comet J312 was nicknamed Shiva, the “destroyer,” it made sense that this hefty nuclear bomb gun named Vishnu would act as Preserver of Earth.
Robert walked around, and for the next few hours they discussed the efficacy of Vishnu’s use. Sending a manned ship to orbit Earth was something that Robert and Suri had briefly considered, but given the speed at which they needed to begin bombing the comet, it was more efficient to simply begin making single-use nuclear missiles. Yet having Vishnu would definitely help. Robert thought that perhaps having Gerald working alongside them was a good idea, even if it meant he’d be farther away from his factory.
“Gerald, would you like to come work with us?” Robert asked.
Gerald thought for a moment, never uncrossing his arms. Suri checked her phone and saw her mom was calling. Embarrassed, she excused herself.
“Hi, Mom, what’s up?”
“Hi, Suri, did you make it to Los Alamos?”
“Actually we made a stop in Los Angeles for a little research.”
“Okay, honey. Well, be careful. I think the president could declare Martial Law soon, so the civil rights we have would pretty much go away. You know what they do to minorities if the military gains control, right?”
Suri tried ignoring her mother’s paranoia, and responded, “Just be careful, Mom. I don’t know what’s going to happen either.”
“I need to tell you—it’s amazing what you’re doing, Suri, but I think we would feel more comfortable in India. You know . . . if the world really does end.”
“What? Maaji,” Suri replied aghast, using the Hindi word for mother. “Are you serious? You’re going back to India? Are flights even operating?”
“We bought tickets with a whole group of Indians and found a pilot who will take us. We just think it will be safer. Here we have all these people who think there’s going to be some ‘Judgment Day.’ And that name . . . Shiva. I fear these people may start to blame Indians for this. And, of course, everyone has guns here, Suri. Did you know that?”
Suri replied dryly, “Yes, Maaji, I know, it’s crazy . . . ”
“You’ll try to come visit us? And if you can’t—” Suri’s mother began to choke up, and Suri was having trouble hearing her.
“You know I won’t be able to visit you,” Suri explained. “There’s still so much to do.”
Robert looked over in Suri’s direction and saw her crying. He excused himself from Gerald.
“Hey, why don’t you go back to the plane and take a little break?” Robert said to Suri, putting an arm on her shoulder.
“Okay,” she said, and turned to Gerald. “It was nice to meet you, Mr. Jan,” Suri said, before heading back toward the plane.
Meanwhile, Gerald had politely declined Robert’s request to come work alongside Robert and the rest of his team. They moved on to discussing Vishnu and how soon Gerald could launch.
“It’s really impressive,” Robert began. “So it’ll be manned and orbit the comet, but what happens if the comet hits Earth? Will the astronaut be able to survive?”
Gerald stared coldly and intently at Robert before answering.
“The astronauts we take into space will most likely not come back,” Gerald said. “The ship will have an escape pod capable of sending the astronaut back to Earth, but if there is no Earth to return to, it might not make a difference.”
They were walking toward Jan’s office now, and Robert noticed that Gerald shifted a bit uncomfortably when he answered this question. Robert stepped into Gerald’s huge office.
It was encased by glass, but when Robert shut the door behind them, the glass turned opaque and looked crystallized. There were two big computers sitting atop an unassuming glass desk. Walls opposite the door were also glass, although not opaque. Robert looked out to the desert beyond Jan’s office. He could see the heat trails just above the ground in the distance, and remembered the Los Angeles heat fondly from his time at UCLA. It was a more comfortable heat than the Houston humidity.
“I assumed that the astronauts wouldn’t come back,” Robert began. “Have you found volunteers willing to sacrifice their lives for this cause?”
“The astronauts we select will fully understand the likelihood of their return, but they will be saving the world with their sacrifice. We have several astronauts already considering this position. In fact, originally I wanted to do it, but I think I can better serve humanity by continuing to run things from down here. Also, as I am approaching fifty and do not have the proper training or high health standards to live in space, I have decided we must pick someone else.”
“I agree,” Robert said, jotting some things down in his notebook. “And now that I think of it, it might be better for you to run things from here. This ship will be a great help in the fight against the comet.”
“Will we have open communication between us?” Gerald asked.
“Of course. And I can send you the information on some of the NASA astronauts who would make exemplary pilots for Vishnu.”
Gerald thanked Robert. Robert realized that in order for Gerald’s machine to work, he would need to convince the United States to give a private company access to its nuclear weapons, which would be difficult. Or maybe NASA could purchase the ship, and then affix the nuclear bombs to it.
“Mr. Jan?”
“Please, call me Gerald.”
“You are aware that we might not even get to use this machine, right? That trying to get this ship to leave Earth’s orbit and then orbit Shiva is going to be extremely difficult? Almost impossible.”
“Yes, doctor, I know. Before the comet, my goal in life was to get a colony of humans living on Mars before I died, but now I see a new goal: stop this comet from destroying the planet. And I think that having a ship orbit the comet is one of the best possible weapons we’ll be able to use against it. We have to try.”
“We’ll see. If it works, I certainly agree with you. And thank God you’re calling it a comet. The media keeps calling it a meteor,” Robert replied, putting a hand on Gerald’s shoulder.
“Well, comets are icy bodies from the—” Gerald began, musing on the differences between the two words.
Robert laughed, thinking that Gerald and he were going to work well together. He excused himself from Gerald’s office and walked back to the airplane. After a brief safety intro, they took off for Los Ala
mos. It turns out they complete pre-flight safety intros on military jets, too.
With only an hour or so left before the Sun set, the group still needed a place to sleep. Jeremy noticed that the amount of traffic on the road was very light, and there were no police patrols going on—none Jeremy could see anyway. He did notice a lot of military vehicles driving about. Many had pulled over citizens and were looking through their cars.
A few military vehicles tailgated them, but when they got close enough for Jeremy to see their faces out of the back of the window, they backed off. Whether they were trying to see who was in the car or it was simply a coincidence that they continued tailgating, Jeremy couldn’t be sure. Maybe it was the fact that they were kids. For whatever reason, they escaped the authorities’ scrutiny. Jeremy noticed another Acura—the same model as Dustin’s—had been pulled over.
“What do you think they got pulled over for?” Dustin asked.
It was hard to make out the faces in the car, since the darkness obscured them. Dustin watched the car disappear as some teenagers stepped out. Dustin could see only their teeth in the dim light.
“We should find a place to rest,” Anna said, yawning.
Amazingly, she had driven the entire way. After another thirty minutes of driving, she saw a sign that read, AMARILLO, 5 MILES. Dustin was asleep on Jeremy’s shoulder, and Karina stared off blankly toward the never-ending straight road. They were playing music from Anna’s phone, which had shifted over to Taylor Swift. Jeremy actually liked it, but would never admit it to anyone. Suddenly Jeremy felt a familiar buzz in his pocket.
“I just got a text from my phone company,” Jeremy said, careful to keep his voice down, “but it doesn’t say anything. And the time stamp said it was sent two hours ago.”
“Do you have service?” Anna asked.
“Yeah, but nothing is loading. I can’t get any of the apps to work. Maybe the service’s bandwidth is being used by the government to surveil us? Or Dr. Miller’s team is using it somehow?”
Either way, we might have to go back to using regular maps soon, Jeremy thought. Good thing I brought them.
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