“That’s a lot of meteors,” the host said.
“It sure is,” Woolser replied.
“And these meteor storms have happened before?” the host asked.
“Hundreds of times.”
“And the world’s civilizations were not destroyed?”
“Of course not,” Woolser replied.
“Prevailing scientific theory is that the Earth is pretty much the same way it has always been. When you look around at the landscape, this is generally what it looked like when the Dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Some of the trees and plants have changed, but everything else is mostly the way it has always been. The Earth is a very stable place for life to have evolved as it has.”
“And this idea of a meteor storm lasting for two months, how realistic is that?” the host asked.
“Two days is more realistic,” Woolser said. “Meteor showers and meteor storms have a lot in common. They start slowly, build up to a peak, and then drift off into nothing. Most meteors are no bigger that a grain of sand. It is rare for a meteor to actually hit the ground.”
“Well, doesn’t a large meteor hit the Earth once in a while?” the host asked.
“Of course,” Woolser said, “We have a meteor crater in Arizona as proof of that. But that is an extremely rare event. With our space-based radar, we are tracking large meteors and asteroids all of the time. None of these poses any threat to the Earth, and if it did, we would know about it well in advance.”
“So the group promoting the coming meteor storm is wrong?” the host asked.
“What you are referring to is an extremist organization that is trying to scare people into spending huge amounts of money with their own designated businesses. Their motivation is strictly financial. They have taken this simple idea of a harmless meteor storm and built it up into an apocalyptic nightmare. They are using fear and people’s general lack of real knowledge to create their own financial gain. That’s why I decided to come on this show and explain exactly what the true situation is and what these extremists are trying to do. No one is in danger. If they were, I would tell you.” The program devolved into a discussion of meteors with diagrams and photographs of bright streaks in the night sky.
John stood and walked over to me and Tia.
“I think we have to put the NASA space-based radar images on the website,” he said.
“They’ll know we hacked their system.” I replied. “They will come after us. You really think it’s worth the risk?”
“I don’t think we have much choice. Millions of lives hang in the balance,” he said.
I looked over at Tia. The look on her face told me she agreed.
“Okay,” I said. “We’ll get started right now.”
The following day we traveled with John in his limo to Denver to visit the media center. Everything was running smoothly with a minimum of cyber-attacks. Traffic to the website had slowed considerably after the NASA Speaks program, but with the news of the NASA space-based radar images being spread on Twitter and Facebook, visitors were returning in even larger numbers.
John’s cell phone rang. He talked briefly and motioned me over. “It’s for you, actually,” he said, handing me his phone.
“Hello?”
“Yo, Carl, it’s Leroy, Leroy Simms.”
“Hey, how are you doing?”
“Me and Moniesha are in the Network. I called that number you left with me. These are really nice folks. We’re already moved into this underground bunker.”
“I’m glad you decided to join us.”
“Yeah. After you picked up the robot’s head, I got to thinkin’ there’d be Hell to pay if they found that empty box in the Moon Room, you know? So, on my last round outside the building that night I picked up a large rock. I washed it off, rubbed some moon dust on it and put it in the box in place of the head. Good thing too, ‘cause guess what? Next morning the place was crawling with federal agents. They spent four days going through everything, and didn’t find nothin’.”
“What about the list of my personal property I left with Mike when I brought my computer into the facility?”
“Naw, man, it’s cool. Me and Mike talked when he came on shift. Once he knew your stuff was gone, he shredded your list.”
“Thanks, man, I really appreciate it,” I said.
“Hey, I ‘preciate you havin’ my back, too, man, thanks. Anyway, just wanted to say thanks and to let you know we’re safe, because of you.”
“Thank you, Leroy, give my best to Moniesha.”
I handed the phone back to John. “You’re right,” I said, “we’re making a difference. Thank you for believing in me.”
John smiled and pocketed his phone. “We can make a difference because of people like you and Tia, and everyone who is here. Thank you.”
CHAPTER 18
The next morning I was again awakened by gentle knocking on the door to my room.
“Got a special project,” John said. “See you down stairs.”
I dressed and met John, Ed and Tia in the kitchen for breakfast. After we ate, John announced that we were moving the robot’s head. We packed the head, computer and power supply back in the wooden box and headed out into the woods. We followed a small path for more than a mile when John stopped.
“Remember this tree,” he said. “It’s the only one like it in the area.” The tree was a large beech with smooth gray bark, easily recognizable in any season.
John turned off the path and into a thicket of brush. We struggled to get the box through the thicket. It was difficult going and seemed to take our remaining energy as we climbed through the thicket and up a steep hill. We emerged onto a small ledge facing a rock wall that rose at least a hundred feet above our heads. John sat down and rested as we gradually caught up with him. As we sat and regained our breath, John explained.
“As you may have suspected, we have a safe, secure location in which to ride out the meteor storm. This is where it is.”
We looked around. The only things there were the thicket and the rock wall. John took three keys out of his pocket, handing one to each of us. “I trust the three of you with everything I have. This key will allow you into the cave.”
John stood and pointed out an unusual mark in the rock wall. At the bottom point of the mark was a small key slot. John slid his key into the slot and turned the key clockwise. I heard the subdued sound of motors and gears working. The rock wall moved out slightly and began pivoting to the side. The door was constructed of fiber and concrete on a steel frame with natural rocks embedded on the outside to match the shape and texture of the rock wall. Even standing right in front of the door you would never guess it was the entrance to a massive cave. John stepped inside and several LED light clusters came on.
“So how do you get electricity out here in the forest?” I asked.
“Fuel Cells,” John replied. “Powered by propane. We have enough fuel to power the cave at maximum consumption for six months. A year if we conserve energy.”
“And how big is this cave?” I asked.
“Fifty-two thousand square feet of living area plus storage for supplies and other things.”
“Other things?” I asked.
John just smiled. “Come on,” John said, “let me show you around.”
As we headed back into the cave, lights came on in front of us and went out in back of us. Once we cleared the main door, it slid shut automatically.
“Infrared sensors turn the lights on and off?” I asked.
“We incorporated both infrared and motion sensors into the lighting system,” John replied. “Better energy management.”