Judgement Day, page 20
Glancing at news feeds from a variety of media, Jackson saw that already the Dow Jones index had crashed and there was widespread continued selling around the world, so someone had alerted the press as to the initial failure of the first three batches. He was incensed at this and ordered an even greater clampdown in security such as it was possible to achieve.
The time dragged by and three cups of coffee did not help his mood, nor that of the others in the room. At last the time lapse came to an end and Brandi was ready at her controls to detect any sign of life from the squares on Visitor. At last, she saw an electronic signal and raised her hand and nodded to Jackson.
“Fire the rest of the squares” was the order, and Brandi did as she was bid and the rest of them were systematically sent into the darkness of space and towards Visitor reaching the same immense speed. Dean and Sergei were relieved when the last squares had been dispatched and once more wrapped up matters in space and returned inside the station, to a welcome from Natalia and the other astronauts and a mouthful of vodka.
As they were waiting once more, Brandi noticed that the main computer seemed to be playing up and now it appeared that data was being lost. Then without warning, her master controller, linked as it was to the powerful super-computer in another part of the country, went blank, as if there was catastrophic malfunction. Suddenly no pictures were being shown on the main screen in the mission control room and straight away there was uproar as immediately observers noticed what had happened.
As quick as a flash, Jackson knew that they had much less than one hour to rectify the situation because they would need to instruct the squares to combine as soon as the signal came through, in order to then set off the explosion, but without the data they were flying blind. The head of the information technology department was monitoring the data feeds and links to the super-computer but right now was at a loss to understand what had happened. He had a back-up computer ready but was concerned, as was Brandi, that the data loss might be irretrievable, and the software therefore incapable of providing a solution to any revised optimal lattice shape that the squares would need to adopt, let alone the instruction for firing.
Far away in the solar system, Visitor turned in its gentle way and then experienced a series of minor thuds on a small area of its surface, at the side. The harder stone-like material of the asteroid did not take kindly to the intruders and, as yet unknown to people on Earth, many of them were obliterated at impact and others merely bounced away into space in the weak gravity of the object, never to return. The place of impact was a mixture of hard material but within centimetres there was a softer, powdery patch and some of the squares smashed into this area and survived intact.
Despite training and well-established procedures, pandemonium continued in Houston as scientists, astronomers and technicians did their best to rectify the situation. Thomas tried to quell any unrest with the many visitors with his practiced emollient tones, but he doubted if many would be fooled. The clock ticked on remorselessly and time slipped by all too fast, unlike the usual situation where everyone was anxious for information to come back from the heavens. Only Jeffrey McNaught-Davis took on a moderate and steady tone.
After one hour and fifty-eight minutes, Brandi was assured that the main computer had re-connected and that the master controller software had linked up once more, and as soon as it was turned back on and available for viewing, data arrived back from Visitor. At first, Brandi could scarcely believe what she saw, which was a precise reading of the number of squares that had survived and were, presumably, capable of being re-combined into some new shape which would lie on the surface of the asteroid. There were still no photographs available but, in any case, the telescopes would in due course detect any signs of an explosion.
Of the six million squares that had left the International Space Station, barely two million, one hundred thousand were left, and she wondered whether some of these were actually resident on the asteroid’s surface as distinct from floating in space. The next stage was to create a new shape and the computers made the calculations in a matter of less than a minute.
“We don’t have enough left,” whispered Brandi to Jackson who by now was standing right next to her.
Jackson knew that questions as to what had gone wrong would be for later, for right now it was necessary to attempt the explosion.
“Issue the instruction to fire as soon as you are ready,” he said gently, at which Brandi nodded.
Chapter Fifteen
The instruction to fire was sent into space, but that was the last of it that was ever heard, and suddenly it was realised that no further feedback came from electronic connection with the squares. At first, Brandi thought that this lack of news was in fact good because no signal implied that an explosion had taken place, but as time ticked by there was negative input from the array of telescopes and this confirmed her worst fears.
The ensuring hours of the day were surreal and there was no doubt that the attempt to impact Visitor had failed. At first, there was shock at this, given the incredible success of the squares on Project Judgement but the telescopes looking at Visitor saw nothing at all, and still no signals were being received from the asteroid to imply that the squares were still active. Incredulity followed but then there was the gradual acceptance that for whatever reason the attack on Visitor had been a disaster.
Jackson reminded Brandi that at least they had received some feedback that the squares, or at least some of them, had survived, for a firing solution had been generated for the revised shape, but after that nothing at all. The acid test would be whether there had been any change in the trajectory of the asteroid, and as before the task was given to Judith and Brian to calculate in the first instance. They duly and with grim determination went about their business for several hours, with Catherine standing by feeling helpless, such was the tension in mission control. At last and after several hours of study and checking and re-checking of calculations, Judith and Brian consulted once more with each other and called Catherine over to break the news.
“We can determine now that there is no difference in the path of Visitor towards Earth,” said Brian sadly.
Catherine had been expecting nothing else of course and had already seen the expression on the faces of her two researchers as they went about their business and so she turned around and looked to see if Brandi or Jackson were in the room. She saw them standing in one corner together drinking yet another mug of coffee and she duly signalled them to come over.
After receiving the news, Jackson thanked the team and left the place to return to his own office. Jean and the others were still in hospital, but news had come through that they had each improved and would make a full recovery and that the culprit was indeed food poisoning. The telephone call that Jackson then had with the President and Secretary of State was a difficult one to say the least, but the President was in no mood to criticise what had happened, for he needed to discuss the situation with the Chinese and United Nations.
Over the next week, calculations were regularly made, and they all confirmed those made by Judith and Brian. World leaders now turned their attention to the use of nuclear weapons to destroy Visitor but Professor Arthur Stromberg recommended that those lasers that were available, in orbit and on Earth should in the meantime be trained on the asteroid at the same place as far as possible, in a gallant attempt to make some difference, on the grounds that continual pressure on the rock might help. As the asteroid came closer, the lasers would be more accurate, and so a great deal of attention was paid to the precise spot on the recalcitrant Visitor. At least there would be several months’ worth of sustained rays striking the asteroid, and as far as anyone could know, perhaps this might work along with prayers for a miracle.
All parties agreed on the futility of having another attempt with the squares but, as much to give hope to the masses, just in case manufacturing continued in China as frantically as possible. The location of the strike in China was now well understood and the place in question commenced evacuation on a grand scale. Deng Qui wondered what Le Wei’s reaction would be, and he knew that Peter Young had suddenly returned to Beijing. Peter had carried out the bidding of the Master and had assassinated Joseph Stonehouse and incapacitated his team with food poisoning, but the news that had emerged that Dr Kovach was still fit and unaffected by it all and had stepped into the breach had annoyed him. His team had succeeded in interfering with the computer systems, but he had not counted on the resourcefulness at NASA to work-around his sabotage. As it happened, all his efforts had been unnecessary because for whatever reason, no explosion had been detected on Visitor after all. He was disappointed that the asteroid would not strike the west and was due to hit China, but so be it, he had done his job as instructed.
Within a week, Sergei and Dean had set up the three lasers now residing in space for ongoing firing as continuously as possible given movement of the station itself, although there were also gaps due to Judgement positioning itself in the way, once more under the direction of ground control. In addition, a further three lasers also fired from the ground, depending on the time of day as the Earth spun around, but the rays were synchronised to strike at the same place on Visitor, with the computer making continual adjustments to the direction. This was the best that could be achieved. Professor Stromberg had insisted that the strike area be the same as the place targeted in the unsuccessful attempt by the squares, and this was agreed around the world.
In the meantime, those countries that had placed missiles in space commenced the process of remotely turning the direction of the deadly weapons around so that they too pointed out into space towards Visitor in readiness, just in case the die had to be cast. And so, the world waited and as it did so panic rose to a new height.
Judgement itself continued its serene trajectory and was also closely monitored, for the last thing anyone wanted would be for that monster to decide to bend towards Earth after all. There had been some discussion that if there had been an explosion on Visitor perhaps some debris might have contrived to slam into Judgement and alter its course, which if it happened would be bizarrely unfortunate.
“Knowing our luck, Judgement will have another go at us,” said Judith without humour one morning.
Time moved on and the United Nations had been appraised of the days left, and in fact the media and television companies had taken to showing a count-down timer on their screens as a grim reminder of what was coming. Now, these clocks showed that there was only three weeks to go, with both Judgement and Visitor being just ten million miles away and closing relentlessly.
The Chinese government implored the Russians and Americans to fire another rocket with the new squares at Visitor but in the end, they decided to use their own space programme to do so, their capsule with the payload docking with their own space station. However, they were forced to rely on western technology with respect to the laser guns and for this the President of the United States was more than happy to oblige.
“The asteroid is too near,” cautioned Jackson to the President, which was well known but agreed to more out of a spirit of collaboration than anything. In reality, the President was keen for anything that would prevent the launch of nuclear weapons from orbit, given all sorts of errors that could ensue and result in catastrophe for the planet.
During the period of sombre reflection following the failure of the attempt at Visitor, Jackson had made sure to follow closely the investigations into the death of Joseph Stonehouse, which was being treated as a homicide. The coroner’s reports were damning as to the wickedness of what had taken place, that a substance had been introduced to his body, probably from something eaten, which caused blood clotting and then thrombosis, but the police had not come up with any leads as to who was responsible.
Peter Young remained in China on another assignment for the Master, and Deng Qui also maintained a low profile as far as fellow scientists were concerned, but he was now engaged on a project that was as bold as it was secret. The Truth had members in the armed forces of China and especially those involved with the extremely secret nuclear deterrent that had been long maintained. Missiles were carried in submarines and aircraft, but the type that had been transported into space had been extracted from silos across the country and had by their nature had long-range capability and massive warheads, suitable for intercontinental attack. Six of these large missiles were now residing in orbit at the Chinese space station, which was inhabited by two astronauts, although control of the weapons remained resolutely with Beijing.
Li Wei had been assured by one of his other senior acolytes that they had a man embedded in the defence ministry that would, if the word was given, launch the missiles, and it was known from this man that the direction that they could be moved to Earth.
There was nothing like the threat of annihilation to concentrate the mind wonderfully, and pandemonium continued on as if the starting pistol of a race had been fired and people had been given permission to go into melt down. Those countries with nuclear weapons in space readied themselves for action, and mission control in Houston, in charge of firing the lasers, at least now could do so with continuous bursts due to the earlier movement of Judgement away from the line of fire so that a clear pathway was evident.
Mission control in China planned to use same technique and used their own laser gun which they had also shipped into space, in the same way as they knew it had been at the International Space Station. The gun was not quite as powerful as that used with great success, at least as far as Project Judgement was concerned, by the Americans but they hoped it would be sufficient.
As Visitor closed in on Earth, by now the larger asteroid Judgement could be seen by most amateur telescopes, and when these enthusiasts saw the rock there was generally a sharp intake of breath. Those that could see such a thing would wonder at the panoply of white beams emanating from the surface and agree that it was a wonder to behold, and this continued night and day according to the guns that came into range as the Earth rotated. The Chinese fired their laser at the batch of tiny squares to propel them towards Visitor and looked to see if there was any sign of impact on the hard surface of the asteroid.
In parallel, the mighty Judgement was deemed to be on a path that would miss the Earth by only one hundred and fifty miles, and so citizens were alerted to the prospect of a comet-like vision in the heavenly realms and upper atmosphere as that terror bade its greetings and salutations to humanity before passing by for another engagement.
The Chinese had very little time to wait because of the close proximity of Visitor, but their scientists in Beijing, who kept close links with their opposite numbers in Houston, saw no discernible trace of impact. Observatories around the world had their devices glued on Visitor and none reported any sign of debris, and it became clear that the last gasp effort to use the squares had failed. Privately, the scientists were to a man extremely doubtful that even if there had been an explosion, it would not have been enough to generate a significant angle of deflection.
Visitor was now just two weeks away from impacting Earth. At the International Space Station, Dean, Sergei, Natalia and the others were active in making sure that two laser guns fired into space as continuously as possible, at a target that they still could not see, but knew that mission control could do so. They too could see the light show in all its glory as lasers made their way from several places on Earth.
Sergei had made sure that they retained some of the vodka which they intended to drink on the day of impact of Visitor on Earth, should that menace not be stopped, in a sombre salute. They were keen to understand the plans for the launch of the nuclear missiles from space and, although none of the weapons had been delivered to them, they knew that there were other satellites in orbit which did have these horrors of mass destruction, and from at least five countries to their understanding. If the missiles were launched too late there was every chance of some debris or other impact causing problems at their home in space.
The United Nations Security Council went into private session once more and there was a gloves-off frank discussion and the countries that had put weapons into orbit came clean and they decided on a coordinated attempt at Visitor, which was to be in ten days’ time, by which time the asteroid would be barely four days away and closing.
The Chinese government continued with its plans to evacuate the impact area, which involved thirty million people, and this was completed forty-eight hours before the due date, coincidentally at the same time that the nuclear rockets were well on their way to hit the target. The countdowns to the launches were synchronised and in absolute silence of the vacuum at variance to that which would be in place in the expected way, the nuclear weapons set forth and commenced their relatively short journey to obliterate Visitor, or to move it from its deathly course.
And the world held its breath and the churches and places of worship were filled. Placard bearers foretelling that the end of the world was nigh were out in force, and extreme religious organisations called on the Almighty to do His cleansing work, for they rejoiced in the sinful being weighed in the balance and found wanting, with death as their due.
Chapter Sixteen
The days of nuclear tests in the atmosphere were just a distant memory and even limited testing of intercontinental ballistic missiles had long since finished, at least for the nuclear powers. Those minor countries with ambitions of grandeur on the world’s stage and which desired to join this eminent club were of course keen to perfect their means of delivery of one of the main sources of their power, but this was rare. There were many countries which the existing nuclear powers bluntly did not trust, what with their lack of democracy and threatening demeanour, and there was no way on Earth these nations would ever be allowed to possess such power.
