New Earth: Project O.N.E.. R.D. Ph.D. Pittman
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dining room. Alex gathered his thoughts, after a few minutes he got up, and pushed through the double doors.
Professor Huart looked up and stopped talking to Professor Macklin.
“Yes, can I help you sir?”
“My name is Alex Hanken, Professor Huart, and you must be Professor Macklin,”
Macklin looked nothing like a professor. More like a linebacker.
“Excuse me, uh Mr. Hanken was it? We’re having a very private conversation.”
Alex leaned forward with his hands on their table. “I know, I was driving down the Pasadena Freeway, trying to call my son in Sacramento, and my car phone system inadvertently picked up your conversation.”
“And what conversation was that Mr. Hanken?” Huart asked.
“The one about a near earth object event that was picked up by the Mauna Kea Observatory, and how it’s coming at us. Professor Macklin you seemed extremely confident and also in a complete panic.”
“Are you a reporter Mr. Hanken?”
“No I’m a retired Air Force Major General from Sacramento.”
“Then how did you get our names? We didn’t mention our names?”
“Look, there is not much you can’t find on the internet Professor Huart. Or should I call you Eldon?”
“Give it up Eldon,” Macklin said. “He knows.”
Huart seemed to collapse. “Sit down Mr. Hanken.”
“Please call me Alex.” Alex slid into a seat. “I’m not here as an adversary or to gain an advantage. I’m involved whether any of us likes it or not.”
“Okay,” Huart said. “To start with Jeffrey and I both hold top-secret clearances because of the nature of the work we do, I could call the appropriate authorities and have you detained indefinitely. You know that, don’t you?”
“Of course that would take some doing I’m not a former two striper, but I have no plans to run out of this restaurant and start yelling the sky is falling. I’ve flown combat missions during Desert Storm, so I’m not easily scared, but the conversation I overheard between you two gentlemen is more than a little disturbing.”
“Mr. Hanken, I need your full name and address.” Huart pulled out a Blackberry and began entering text. “If someone wishes to give you additional information beyond what you think you know you will be contacted. We are under no circumstances going to discuss this with you. I hope you understand.”
Alex nodded. “I understand. I also hold a top-secret clearance. Here’s my card with my address and phone number, gentleman good day.” Alex turned and walked out of the restaurant to the car, where he sat, trembling slightly, and tried to collect his thoughts.
Then unexpectedly he smiled. Maybe that property in Pasadena didn’t have so much upside potential. What with the world ending and all.
Jeremy turned to Eldon. “What were you thinking? This guy knows what’s going on and he’s a general in the Air Force,” Macklin said, “with a top security clearance…and you know we could use a little help on this one.”
“He says he has a security clearance. Do you have the skills and experience to do a complete background check on him?
Jeremy massaged his forehead, then shrugged his shoulders. This was still all so much
“I didn’t think so,” Eldon said. We’ll let the professionals handle Mr. Hanken. We have a job to do and that is to brief the president and his staff on what is coming and what, if anything, can be done about it. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I guess you’re right, Eldon. God, we had such hopes for comet Sedna/Kern. A close pass, a chance to sample the tail. And now…”
“Jeffrey, what’s your analysis of the mechanics of this?”
Macklin wiped his brow. “We knew Sedna/Kern p236 was going to make a near pass at Jupiter that would slow it down and send it into earth-intercept orbit, but we didn’t calculate what would happen when it hit the asteroid belt. It must have hit something dead on, and the resulting debris cloud affected others. Right now we have some forty asteroids of various sizes that have been catapulted directly into earth’s orbital plane. Some, if not all, will impact the earth in August 2017, within a six day period. It’s still too early to predict exact impact points, but there will be massive damage to the affected areas.”
“So….”
“Yeah. It’s the end of the world.”
As Alex vectored his private plane toward Sacramento, he was glad for the computer-assisted avionics, because his mind was still racing. Was this the Extinction Event prophets had foretold for centuries? How did you prepare? Was there any point to preparing? And who would he talk to? Who could he talk to, now that Ellen was gone? Curt?
Alex didn’t remember pulling into the garage at his home in suburban Granite Bay. He immediately went to his bathroom medicine cabinet and pulled out the sleeping pills his doctor had prescribed for him after Ellen’s death. He had used them once and hated the wooly- headed feeling they left him with, and didn’t like the idea of using a crutch, so he’d never taken another. But now things were different. He knew damn well he wouldn’t sleep without them, and he needed to be alert for …whatever. So he downed two with a shot of scotch and was deeply asleep within minutes.
Alex began to stir around 10:20 the next morning. Which was strange, since he normally never slept past six a.m. And why was his head so fuzzy?
Then it all came back to him—the overheard conversation, the meeting at the restaurant, everything. But it was just a dream, it must have been. But it was so vivid!
Alex stumbled into the kitchen to start a pot of coffee and noticed his message light blinking. The first message was from Curt, asking him to call when he got home, then a Democratic fundraiser asking for more donations, and then reality hit.
“Alex, this is Professor Huart. Things are moving faster than I thought. Jeffrey and I are leaving this afternoon for D.C. You might expect a visit sooner than expected. I just wanted to give you a heads up. Hope your trip went well. Goodbye for now.”
Alex felt faint. And just then, Curt walked in.
“Dad, what the hell happened, are you okay?
“Yeah…..I…..I’m just a little tired, you know that trip to Pasadena really got to me,”
Alex sat down and asked Curt to pour him some coffee. His first, almost automatic, instinct was to tell him everything. They’d never kept secrets from one another. But no, not yet. When the time was right. What could he tell him anyway, that he overheard two eccentric professors discussing the end of all mankind? Alex needed more concrete proof. He’d call Roger in Admiral Torrance’s office and make his own inquiries.
“So Dad, did you look at that piece of property?” Curt asked. “What did you think?”
“It looks better in pictures than in person. There’s a lot of restoration work to be done, and the immediate area is in fairly run down condition. I’m going to pass on that property.” None of this was true, but there was no need to make any investments now. If anything did survive who would care? “I got your message. Was there anything in particular you needed?”
“Nah. Just to talk. You know.”
Alex did know. Since Ellen’s death, he and Curt had developed a strong bond.
Alex managed to hold it together through two cups of coffee and some small talk. But he was relieved when Curt finally said he had some errands to run and left.
Six days. Professor Macklin had told Professor Huart on the phone. The asteroids would be striking the earth over a period of six days. That’s how long it took God to make Earth! How ironic. Alex went outside on the