Both of the planets lost large amounts of matter and huge asteroids and planetoids were thrown out in to space. The wobbled off in different directions much like when one pool ball is hit by another.
The two planets scattered debris over hundreds of thousands of miles in all directions. Because of the way the two had hit, it sent KA5 towards the Earth in general. As it passed other planets in the galaxy, the gravitational pull would alter its path from time to time.
Eventually it drifted through space out of our immediate solar system. While it seems almost impossible, it was not picked up until the study by Doctor Abigale Montgomery’s team happened to note the anomaly while actually on a different mission.
It had long been believed that a tenth planet was once a part of our solar system and that somehow it impacted with another comet or meteor and that it was destroyed. Some even believe that the impact is what caused the era of the dinosaurs to die out when a huge chunk streaked through our atmosphere and landed in Mexico.
It changed the predicative live on Earth killing everything on the planet. That is exactly what Abby’s team was trying to ascertain when the discovery of KA5 popped up.
The fact that it was not only heading towards our solar system but was coming towards the Earth gave the project a new importance.
Now the whole world was waiting to see exactly what would happen. While projections are one thing, actual events are all that really matter. At this point it out of man’s hands and there was little that could be done about it.
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
“How are you doing boys?” Fritz asked James and Brian.
They were soaked, wearing only their boxer shorts and tee-shirts. Brian had a rag around his head and looked like a left over hippy. James looked like something out of an old movie with his shirt sleeves rolled up.
“Just about there. We are re-torqueing the cover bolts to your specifications. Are you sure you need so many bolts to hold this thing on? I’m not being critical but it just seems over engineered a bit,” James asked.
“Oh, heavens no. I didn’t need all of them but I had that many so I decided to use them all rather than have them just lying around.” Fritz replied.
James and Brian just looked at each other and rolled their eyes. They had long ago realized that many of the pieces on the E-PEG were nothing more than what Metzler had on hand or thought he might need. It was over engineered by a good fifty percent.
“After we get it buttoned up then what?” James asked.
“We will have it moved to the test site, load it onto the sled and strap it down. No easy chore I can tell you. Then we give it a test shot at low power and take readings.”
“Then we can compare the two systems to make sure they are in sync?” James asked
“No, that isn’t likely to be the case. We will have to link them much like you do propeller props on a twin engine airplane. I’m sure it will take some tweaking,” he replied
“When are we going to build that part so we can try to sync them?” Brian asked.
“I’ve already done it while you two were working on E-PEGII.”
“Awesome,” James said, tightening the last bolt on the outer cover.
“Only 3.68 degrees? Heck that isn’t so much,” Dan said.
“Really?” Abby said.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t sound like much to me. I mean if you said fifteen or twenty degrees I would probably react differently but 3.68?”
“Let me put this way. It would be like you jumping in the ocean and trying to move a Navy super carrier 3.68 degrees. See the problem?”
“Are there sharks in the water?” Dan asked.
“Very funny but really it is about the same thing. Add in that the carrier was going at 30 knots and you had to do it before it got past you.”
“Yikes. That sounds impossible.”
“It may well be but what other choice do we have? All we can do is give it our best shot. The rest is up to a higher authority,” Abby replied.
“I take what I said all back. So, the 3.68 degrees will do what?” Dan asked.
“Move it enough so it will just miss the moon by a few thousand miles. Probably no more than 5,000 miles but in this case a miss is okay. The good thing is that the gravitational pull is only a third of the earth’s. The.68 is kind of our safety net factored in.”
“So anything more than that 3.68 is actually better.”
“Absolutely,” Abby agreed.
“And if it’s 3 degrees or less, boom.”
“Pretty much. We won’t hear anything here on Earth but it will be apparent and we will see it hit.”
“How much time to we have?”
“Thirty-six days. Everything has to be in place and ready.”
“Man, that’s cutting it pretty close.”
“Tell me about it,” Abby said.
“Mr. President, here is what we have,” Admiral Kincaid said handing Strong a paper.
“Really? Well that’s excellent. So the private concern will take up one of the machines and the French ship, Horizon la Bleu, whatever that means.”
“The Blue Horizon,” General LaForge said.
“That makes sense. Anyway I will convey my deepest appreciation to them for helping us at this time.”
“We are all helping each other. Others said they would change their launch dates but these were our best options,” LaForge told him.
“Are all the details in place?”
“Absolutely. The C5-A are already on the ground at Groom Lake. They will load the cargo into two separate planes just in case something should happen to one. They will depart just as soon as the test they are conducting is finished. They will fly one to France and the other to Texas.”
“How will all of this be controlled? I mean, who will actually have control of the things once they are in space?”
Kincaid looked at LaForge.
“Well, we just figured that Doctor Montgomery would be the person best suited for that. She knows more about it than anyone,” Kincaid finally said.
“Then I guess it would be a good idea to let her know don’t you think?”
“Yes sir,” they both said.
“Okay gentlemen, get it done,” he said dismissing them.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
“Of course I’ll do it but I think Metzler may be more qualified.”
“Not really. I mean he should be there with you but you should be the one that controls everything.”
“Then I need to have everything at my disposal. That means to be really accurate I need instant feedback on KA5, the power of the E-PEG’s, resulting movement and a few other things. Something I can totally rely on to give me accurate and instant information.
“Yeah. I thought about that. How about the VLA in New Mexico?”
“They just work on deep space observation.”
“I’ve talked to the director. They can give you exactly what you want within a matter of meters and at any time. The total uplink and down link is less than a second. They will turn everything over to you and help with the technical aspect. I know this is jumping the gun again, but the President talked directly to them because we were getting a little static. I know we didn’t inform you first but there it is,” Dan told her.
“No problem. This is one time I’m glad he did. So what is the time frame now?” Abby asked.
“The two units are already on their way to the rocket sites. They will be loaded aboard within the next seventy-two hours. You can get everything you need and I will get you to New Mexico so you can get acclimated with their equipment and everything in place.”