Chapter one THE ROCK

First chapter of my novel. Kicking off with the strange stone from outer space.

The big dipper has always been Caleb’s favorite of all the eighty eight constellations. Perhaps it was because the asterism was the easiest of all to recognize. The most vibrant seven stars of Ursa Major the great bear; like him just a small part of a greater picture but a bright part. The moon moved slowly behind the peaks of the Granite Dells creating a dark stage for the stars to perform, only a few thin clouds here and there to block his view. He put his arms behind his head and leaned back onto the cool damp ground. Looking up he stuck out his finger and started to trace the outline of the constellation naming each star as he went. “Dubhe, Merak, Phecda, Megrez, Alioth, Mizar, and Alkaid,” he said in a soft relaxed voice. The air was fresh and perfumed with the pollen of the Pinion Pines. A known allergen and a bother to most people in the area, but to Caleb it was as warm and welcoming as the scent of fresh baked cookies on a cold winter’s day. This was his place to relax, a sanctuary.

 

The vacuum of space is wonderful habitat for a meteor. It can just float along at thousands of miles per hour with no effort at all. This meteoroid would have been quite happy to continue on its journey but the ugly, blue, third planet from the sun just had to be crossing its orbit at the most inopportune time. Once in the planets atmosphere there was nothing to do but ride it out. Quickly the air in its path heated to three thousand degrees, its exterior disintegrated and atmospheric gases ionized around it causing a great tail to appear behind. Soon it would be just another stone on an already rocky planet’s surface. Nothing to do now but wait for impact.

 

The debris in the wind caused Caleb to squint, the trees bent to the east, and night turned into day as the asteroid shot across the sky. The impact a thunderous bomb, caused the ground to shake. Caleb jumped to his feet; it was close. Now later he would claim that it was his scientific curiosity that sparked the urge to seek out the space rock. But he knew right well that it was money. Meteors could be worth millions of dollars and although his thirst for scientific knowledge was great; after all he was a teenage boy and a huge boat, in the Hawaiian Islands, filled with bikini girls trumped any scientific sensibilities he may have had at that moment.

 

The impact crater was huge and debris still lingered in the air. Caleb stood in front of the large mass of dirt and rock that made up the rim of the newly formed crater. One in a million he thought to himself. This was just amazing. He dug in his feet as he climbed the mound of dirt slipping and sliding in the freshly deposited soil until after many false starts, scrapes, and bruises he reached the top. The crater was large at least two hundred feet in diameter. Material from the impact still rained down steadily on him. He reached up and plucked a bothersome twig from his long red hair. He scampered down into the hole there was no time to waste. With an impact of this magnitude and this close to town it would not be long before others would arrive.

 

The sweat on his head mixed with the still falling sand in the air and clumps of mud held on to his brow. Three long hours and not one fragment. “Bye, Bye, bikini girls,” he mumbled. He knew of course that this was a possibility most meteors disintegrated in the atmosphere before reaching the ground this one just happened to do it on impact. He sat for a few more moments gathering his energy for the climb back up the steep crater wall. He was more than a little surprised that no one had showed up to check on things yet. It was a huge explosion and there was no way people couldn’t have noticed a pitch black night being lit up like a light bulb. A walrus burped, his butt cheeks vibrated, and a puff of dirt shot out from under his bum. He decided it was time to head home. He left his cloud of poo to linger and started his climb up the mound of fine powdered earth.