Abby just sat there looking at her phone. Five percent of the moon would change life on Earth forever. It had the potential to possibly wipe out mankind.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
Dan parked his car in front of the entrance to the hotel and had the desk let her know he was in the lobby. He had just started to sit down when she strolled off the elevator.
“Well, that sure didn’t take long,” he said.
“You said six-thirty. It is six-twenty nine right this moment,” she said looking at her watch.
“Shall we?”
He held the door for her and pulled out, heading toward the White House.
“Are you okay?” he asked after a few moments of silence.
“I guess.”
“What? Did something happen?”
“Amiée, called while I was in my room.”
“Amiée? And she is?”
“Director of the NTT in Chili.”
“Ah. And what did she tell you?” Dan asked, blowing his horn at some jerk who had just pulled out in front of him.
“That the wobble of KA5 is worse and is affecting the path. They now believe it may hit the moon a little harder than projected.”
He was quiet for several seconds.
“And that means what exactly?”
“Amiée thinks as much as five percent could be broken off by the impact.”
“Five percent? That doesn’t sound too bad.”
“It is horrific. The amount of rock and debris thrown off would cause huge problems on earth. It could even change the moon's orbit affecting everything on earth.”
“Five percent?”
“Absolutely.”
They pretty much drove in silence the rest of the way. Abby was so busy processing the results and what it could mean that she didn’t even realize it was time to get out of the car until the guard opened the door for her.
“Are we in the same place? It doesn’t look familiar,” Abby asked.
“No. We are all the way across the White House in the West Wing.”
“Really? That’s pretty cool,” she said.
They were escorted down the hall to the Oval office. Abby gasped as they were admitted.
“Oh my. I can’t believe that I am really here in the Oval Office.”
“Yeah, kind of neat isn’t it?” Dan said.
“Kind of? Kind of? Oh I forgot Mr. Big Shot Secretary.”
He stuck his chin up and said, “Yes I am, aren’t I?”
“Aren’t you what?” the voice of the President said from behind him as he slid into the office.
“Honored to be here sir,” he glibly replied.
“Right. Doctor Montgomery, thank you for coming.”
“It’s an honor Mr. President.”
“Well maybe, maybe not. That could depend on whether the world is destroyed on my watch or not.”
“It certainly wouldn’t be your fault Mr. President.”
“Please have a seat,” President Strong said, indicating the couches that were in the center of the room in two rows, “The others will be here in a couple of minutes. Can I get you something to drink? We have food coming in a few minutes. I know Dan warned you not to eat, right Dan?”
“I may have mentioned it in passing.”
“You are being especially slippery tonight Dan. Any particular reason?” the President asked enjoying putting Dan on the spot.
Dan was saved by the door opening and five men and two women entering. Three of the men and one woman had on a uniform. The others were in civilian clothes. Abby was happy to see they had on much the same thing she did.
Introductions were made and the President pulled his desk chair around so that he sat facing the group.
“For those who were not at the briefing this morning, this is Doctor Abigail Montgomery. You are looking at the person who discovered the asteroid we call KA5. I ask Doctor Montgomery to be here to answer a few more questions that I had and to discuss possible solutions to the situation that could soon develop. Let me preface this by saying that the data that her team came up with is verified and accurate. There is no need to debate about the ‘but what if you are wrong’. Doctor Montgomery and her team demonstrated quite adequately that what they are telling us is indeed fact. Having said that, would you mind giving them the overview, but please, leave out the math, it made my head hurt,” he joked.
“Yes sir Mr. President. Here is the situation in a nutshell. And I might add some new information has come to light since I briefed the President just a few hours ago, that’s how fluid the situation is.”
“Here’s what we currently believe will happen with the latest information that came in from Santiago, Chili just two hours ago. The object we call KA5 has continued to wobble. That means it is tilting more and is less stable than before. This is bad because it changes how the asteroid interacts with the gravitational pull exerted by the planets. The latest figures show KA5 not grazing the moon, but hitting it substantially hard enough that as much as five percent of the moon could be ripped off.”
A few gasps, sharp intakes of breath and even one little yelp followed the announcement. The President sat up in his chair, not nearly as relaxed as he had been.
“Now five percent may not sound like a great amount but it will throw millions and millions of tons of rock and debris in the air. Fortunately some will not reach terminal velocity but as much as eighty percent of it will,” Abby said.
She paused to let that sink in before going on.
“What that means to the Earth is fairly devastating. We will have meteor storms like we have never seen before. Some will be of such size that they could potentially affect our environment. Out tides will change radically, millions of people will die as a result of the meteor impacts, animals will lose their ability to navigate, satellites will be knocked out of the sky and that is just the short term picture.”
Everyone was mesmerized by what they were hearing. The President was now sitting forward in his chair with his elbows on his knees. The Generals were glancing at each other and yet no one said a word.
“I know this is difficult to assimilate but it is a real possibility and it’s looking more probable every day. In a few months KA5 will pass the earth and only a short time later will impact a section of the moon. How much damage we will suffer both short term and long term is impossible to predict. We can come up with a long list but the truth is, we really won’t know until it happens.”
Stunned silence filled the room. No one seemed to want to or was able to speak. Even the President was at a loss for words.
Finally he said, “How accurate is the information from Chili? How good is their equipment?”
“The absolute best. We have nothing in the states that even comes close,” Abby told him.
“What can be done to keep this from happening?” one of the Generals asked.
“I’m sorry, I don’t know anyone except Mr. Fowler and the President.”
“General LaForge, US Air Force.”
“Thank you. The honest answer is I haven’t a clue. We are talking about an asteroid almost as big as a planet. This won’t be like in the movies where you send up a bunch of people and they somehow majestically shove it out of the way. It will never happen. Trying to destroy it will do more damage than doing nothing. If we did manage to break it up somehow, much of it would smash into the Earth killing billions. It essentially would end life on Earth. Would some survive? I don’t know but they sure wouldn’t have much of a life,” she told him.
“Could a laser or something like that move it?” another person asked.
“No. That simply isn’t possible with an object this size.”
“Doctor, Admiral Kincaid. Are you telling us that we can’t do anything but sit here and let it happen?”
“Admiral, I don’t have the answers. I just lay it out and what is done about it is not my area of expertise. I can give input to the various options you may come up with but that’s all I can do. I didn’t create it, I just found it so please, don’t kill the messenger,” Abby replied.