Chapter 4: Uh oh.

After tapping into the emergency services computer networks, a shocking discovery is made.

Kate must not have thought I was listening to her and put both her hands on my shoulders and pulled closer.  “Need leave Earth now!”  “OK, OK, Kate, take it easy, I don’t know what you are talking about….here, upload the files that are concerning you to me.”  Her hand turned to liquid and she put it on/into me.  The data was indeed troubling…  “OK, hold on, let me process all this…you’ve given me a lot to think about here.”

So, Kate was basically downloading everything on the internet, the siprnet and also anything she could find in specially compartmented sites.  Above the militarized internet was basically top secret information that is separated so only those with special clearances can see it.  If you don’t need to see those files or sites, then you don’t get access.  Only a few people are allowed to see everything and they sit at the top of the military and civilian command structure.  Basically, only the President and those at the top of the National Military Command Structure have access to everything.  FEMA is more or less like a backbone to the country and also sits at the top of these “stovepipes” of information.  Kate, gained access to FEMA through the back up terminal here at the hospital and somehow was able to overcome all the security protocols.  She found information that maybe only a handful of people had knowledge of.

In four days, according to the files we were looking at, the earth was going to sustain an impact of a meteorite of huge proportions, almost the size of the moon.  This information has only been available for about a month now and it has been actively suppressed from the public.  Kate cross referenced what she found on the internet and siprnet and found inconsistencies with the data.  NASA actually has a site that lists known approaching meteors, comets, etc, and this one is listed however, the information has been manipulated to make it look much smaller and that it will miss the earth.  According to the top secret information, it’s almost the size of the moon, and it’s going to be a direct hit.

The approach path of this object is highly unusual in that it does not appear to be on a trajectory that we normally see with meteors.  It was not originally in orbit around our sun, so it came from outside our solar system.  Even on the top secret side, it looked like they didn’t know for sure where or when it was going to hit.  No doubt it would hit according to the expert report, but since the path was so unusual, they were not sure about the exact time frame.  This got Kate’s attention because NASA is rarely unsure about anything, especially things flying around in space.

The approach path included a close call with Jupiter and then a close pass around the backside of the sun.  About as close as it could get without burning up but the sun’s gravitational field whipped it around and slowed it down a lot.  They believed that if it did miss Earth, it was not at an angle or speed that would allow it to enter orbit, instead, it would just fall back into the sun.  If that happened, it would have no effect on anything.  Unfortunately, the data is compelling that it will actually hit the earth.  We have four days at the most. 

The others all moved closer to get the data.  Octo was the first to say anything, “experts are off, by day….have 3 days, not 4.”  I asked the group, “does anyone have anything to add?”  Somber looking bunch….silence.  “OK, we need a plan.”  The expert report laid out the scenario of a direct hit like this actually destroying the planet and all its inhabitants.  Looks like they thought it was information that will not be of use to anyone except cause wide spread panic in the meantime.  The majority report was pretty dire for sure, but there was a minority report too.  It read that although life as we knew it on earth would end, the planet itself would survive.  Either way, not good.  “Kate wants to leave the planet…first of all, is this even possible, second of all, is this something we need to worry about?  After all, we are pretty robust and durable.”  “Leave planet, Kate insisted…”  She was convinced that the majority report was correct, and if we could set up shop on one of the other remaining planets, we’d be fine.  She did not want to have anything to do with the potential of the fission reaction going on at the center of the Earth.  “If we can, I think we should leave too,” CC said.  Then Tata joined the chorus…”yes!”  I’m always hesitant to count her votes because I’m not sure someone who always says yes should be allowed to vote.  Octo and Taran were not totally convinced either way but agreed, an attempted escape, even if temporarily, was the safer thing to do.  Liz and Brando didn’t vote, but Liz started to get stressed….”we just want to stay with the group,” Brando said as he booted up a song for Liz.  It was ‘Fragile’ by Sting…I like that one too. 

“OK, so, we want to leave the planet….how?” I asked.  Kate pushed out more data from the top secret net.  There was an ongoing project using technology similar to what was being proposed by a company called Space X.  They were putting together rockets as a contractor to put satellites in orbit and using a combination of liquid oxygen and kerosene as fuel.  It’s a new idea to use this as a type of booster rocket instead of solid fuel or liquid hydrogen.  NASA took this idea to work on a secret project which they have tried to hide the details from the administration.  What they have done is to use the Space X technology to build a rocket, bigger than anything that has ever been built, even by the old Soviet Union, which will be able to set up a colony on Mars.  It was a slow moving project because NASA had been instructed to focus on the oceans and global warming instead of space exploration and they had to work some magic with the accounting. 

The administration found out about the project but allowed it to continue.  Politically, it was ok to make it look as if you were focused on one thing, but behind the scenes, doing something else.  In this case, it was cool, as long as NASA was public about supporting its “assigned” agenda.  Strange world, politics….  The project continued secretly until about a month ago when word of the meteor came in.  At that point, the administration basically started driving the program for a planned launch, just before the impact.  No one at NASA beyond two scientists who made the discovery of the meteor, was aware of the reasoning behind the push, except that possibly the administration just wanted to score some political points in advance of the upcoming election. 

There was one big mistake…all the planning over the last 30 days has been flawless from changing out payloads, recruiting politically appointed crews outside of NASA, etc, but…they were off by one day.  At this point, it looked like the only one who figured it out was Octo.  Turned out, he was right.

“So, we have a ride off the planet…and we have three days to get to Cape Canaveral.  Kate…Lets look for data on all the options.”  What the heck…why not.  The adventure has already begun.