Judgement Day Read online

  Sitting In the vehicle next to him she felt more alive than she had done for months and for once knew the true meaning of the saying that a problem shared is a problem halved and she just knew that whatever happened things would be alright now that she had told this man. His vehicle was comfortable, and she looked across at him as he drove admiring him more and glad of the invitation for breakfast.

  After a short journey, he parked at the café and they walked inside. Brian was feeling euphoric too and was pleased to be with this lovely girl. His mind was intoxicated with her in every way possible and it was in tune with his physical reaction, the overall effect being one of sublime and beautiful bliss, which for now trumped the seriousness of the situation. Despite the unexpected social occasion, he could not shake off the thought of the asteroid, but he tried not to show this on his face.

  “A bit unusual for a first date,” he said, a little diffidently, but with humour.

  Her heart increased its beating and she thought: “He thinks we’re on a date, how wonderful,” but she just smiled at him as they sat down opposite each other across the narrow table.

  Coffee, bacon and eggs were ordered along with fresh orange juice in a gesture to healthy eating, and they sat looking at each other whilst they waited for the waitress to bring the food and drink.

  “I thought you would order tea,” she said slightly embarrassed by the few seconds of silence, before adding, “seeing that you are from the east coast.”

  “How do you know that?” he said, “although I confess to having spent time in Boston for my sins, but I was young then and a mere student.”

  Her cheeks flushed bright red, but she smiled at him and tried to think of a witty response.

  “It's known for its tea parties I believe,” he stated, seeing her discomfort and trying to make light of things.

  “I'm sure your sins, such as they are, are of no consequence,” she added, “it’s not as if you’re an axe murderer.”

  “How do you know?” he replied, and she continued to endure the embarrassment of her hot flush. This conversation was unlike any other she had had with a member of the opposite sex and she was in virgin territory in more ways than one.

  “So, where are you from then?” he asked.

  “Guess,” she said, her boldness surprising her greatly.

  “California?”

  “Why California?”

  “Because of your fresh face and anyway aren't all girls from California pretty?”

  “Is he mocking me?” she thought but had a warm feeling inside.

  Judith was conscious of her dowdy appearance, but he did not seem to mind although she did wonder whether he was blind. For his part, he was unshaven from working through the night, but she thought it gave him a rugged appearance and she loved his goatee beard grown short and trimmed in the modern fashion. He thought he looked as tired as he felt, and he considered himself to be bloated, overweight and unattractive.

  “You look great,” he said, “even though you've been up all night.”

  She blushed with this comment and studied her fingers with embarrassment but was secretly glad. She wondered whether he complemented all his girlfriends like this.

  “I bet you say that to all the girls,” she said, hoping that this was not true.

  “Chance would be a fine thing,” he replied and laughed uneasily.

  The food arrived and they ate it with relish, each finding a good appetite despite being nervous with each other and trying to forget the reason why they left the office.

  “Do you like working at our esteemed institute of great knowledge?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said simply.

  Their small talk continued, each dancing around the other and being careful not to say something that the other would not like but, as time went on, they became more comfortable with each other and gradually finished their food and called for more coffee to be brought.

  Brian was anxious to talk about the asteroid but did not want to rush matters because of the serious potential she had found. Already he was under no illusion that her research would soon become known worldwide and exposure to international glare would follow. Very likely her name too would become common currency around the globe and more than just in the scientific community. The thought thrilled and horrified him in equal measure, and he wondered what she thought of it all, for she surely must have understood what they were getting into.

  “Perhaps we should call it the “Judgement” asteroid, come to judge and cleanse the Earth,” he said with strained levity.

  He smiled at her as he said this hoping that his humour would diffuse the seriousness of their discussion. She suddenly looked very anxious at the whole thing and he wondered whether he had said too much already. Perhaps he had put his big foot into his mouth yet again, and he cursed himself silently for being crass.

  “Please don't say that,” she said.

  “My name is bad enough without being linked to Earth's demise,” she added, but she said this in the right tone of voice, and he was relieved that she had not taken offence and in fact had seen the funny side of it.

  “This calculation which the computer has thrown at you,” he asked, “do you agree with it?”

  “Yes, three years is about right, if it’s travelling at twenty thousand miles an hour then it must be something like half a billion miles away.”

  “So, I’ve time to book a holiday this year?” he said brightly, trying to make light of things.

  “That sounds like a good idea,” she said, “but not somewhere too hot, because things will heat up here all too soon.”

  She offered a smile at her own wit and he laughed, and the tension eased.

  “Well,” he said, “Catherine comes on duty by eight o'clock and we must go and see her without delay.”

  “You’ll come with me?” she enquired, and he nodded.

  “Of course. I’m with someone about to be famous,” he said.

  The drive back to their office was made in silence as each wondered what they would say to their supervisor, and because they were aware of the protocol that would then be followed.

  Catherine Dempsey was in her office early with the door open as usual and so they walked in quietly, silently in fact and she did not see them for a few moments but eventually she looked up from writing on a yellow pad. Long hair was down to her shoulders, dark from the use of colorants unashamedly applied and her brown eyes and high cheekbones gave a stunning appearance which intimidated Judith as it always had done.

  Catherine had drawn the short straw because for a few weeks she had taken the red-eye shift, but now she was on days. She was diligent and did her best and figured that, after all, nights were hardly an issue because without doubt much astronomy took place then, as she reminded her husband. She was in her mid-forties, married with three children and had returned to her chosen profession after a lay-off of ten years. In a very real way, she was pleased to now have a quiet life compared with looking after lively children for so many years, although night duty occasionally suited her and her husband. Now that she was on the day shift, she found that she was less tired generally and resolved to make sure that she did not work at night from now on unless she had to do so.

  “Dr Donnelly, Dr Judgement,” she said in friendly greeting, waiting for them tell her what they had in mind.

  “There’s something you must see,” said Brian and at that she beckoned them both to sit down.

  “The end of the world,” said Brian, smiling with grim humour, but Catherine saw that his eyes did not correspond with the levity in his words.

  Catherine looked at them both and knew that they were extremely clever astronomers and that they would not come to see her unless they were serious. She knew that Judith was searching the heavens for anomalous events and prayed that what they were about to tell her was not what she thought it just might be.

  “Go on,” she said.

  “Judith has found something,” said Brian and he turned t
o look at his co-worker. Judith exhibited her customary shyness but knew that she would have to speak up.

  “It's a massive asteroid coming straight at us,” she blurted out and felt her face go bright red.

  “How long have we got?” said Catherine after a moment’s pause, blunt and to the point.

  “Three years,” said Judith.

  “How sure are you?” Catherine knew the answer to that as scientists rarely speculated in such matters unless they had to, and she knew Judith to be particularly careful in her work.

  “It's early days yet,” said Judith defensively but nevertheless she was pretty sure.

  “Right,” said Catherine, “you’d better show me.”

  They walked back into the big room and on to Judith's desk where they all saw the image and its data underneath. Hundreds of photographs in sequence taken from high-powered telescopes from around the world were displayed in ranks with almost imperceptible variations apparent as their timelines progressed. Catherine appeared to be transfixed as she gazed at the sight before her, trying to find another explanation, anything in fact to which she could cling which might alleviate the gravity of the discovery. She looked around the large room and saw that they were the only people present, the others having at last left for the day and the new shift of staff not having arrived yet. Only the cleaners were present between shifts and that was a mercy at least.

  “Okay, I see what you mean,” she said.

  “As you know,” she added, “there’s a protocol for this situation, so I must ask you both to say nothing to anybody else.”

  They both nodded and she signalled that they should remain seated whilst she returned to her office to make some calls. Even though they had just worked through the night, there was no way Judith and Brian could possibly leave and so they prepared themselves for a long day.

  The next few hours took on a rather surreal tone, with frantic telephone calls made and received followed by visits from senior officials, with computer readings and documents reviewed and with generally a great deal of head shaking. All this activity culminated in a speech made in mid-afternoon by Catherine to the scientists and astronomers in the building whom had been carefully assembled, but like their supervisor the clever staff had immediately picked up on the potential of the results and knew that they would be sworn to strict secrecy, with federal law being invoked to reinforce the point.

  “Dr Judgement,” said Brian formally and with a straight face, “before you get too famous may I invite you for a drink tonight to celebrate your impending celebrity and seeing as last night was the end of both our night shifts?”

  He looked at her in expectation and then added jokingly and fearful for the answer: “Unless your boyfriend will object of course?”

  The events of the last few hours had emboldened him to speak at last. But as ever he tried to pass the invitation to a date out as humour so if she refused him then it would soften the blow, such was the way with shy men. Judith's heart skipped a beat and she just nodded her head and was glad of the interruption from her mental calculations of the mass of the asteroid and what would take to miss Earth altogether.

  “That would be delightful, Dr Donnelly,” she replied, “I’m sure I can square it with my many boyfriends, lining up as they are.”

  His invitation for a much longed-for date was just what she needed to take her mind off her discovery, because she knew deep down that in reality this massive object would be virtually impossible to deflect let alone stop and the world was looking at an extinction event.

  Chapter Two

  Time passed by and the astronomers and others had all been in effective lock-down for three weeks already. These were not times for jealousy and pride in personal achievement. Indeed, the first clearer photographs had also arrived from the myriad of telescopes, pieced together carefully and supplementing the initial long-range visual and radio telescopic results. All this was supported by the mathematics of mass, vectors and motion which learned men and women poured over, with white boards filled with equations. There was no doubt about it, the asteroid was heading straight for Earth.

  The calculations had been complex, given that the Earth itself was moving swiftly around the Sun such that the incoming rock strike would be akin to an extremely fast bullet colliding with another high-velocity object. The astrophysicists knew that even slowing the asteroid down by a few minutes would be enough for Earth to move out of its path, but there was a universal feeling growing in the community of the puniness and humility of humanity.

  Jackson Etheridge sat in his large office, the place silent save for the quiet hum of the air conditioner, his mind far away as he stared out of his window high on the eighth floor of a new office block, his gaze reaching across neatly mown grass, to a large building in the distance which housed some of the most up to date technology in the world, some of which had been shipped-in under great secrecy. Despite being used to long hours of hard work he was tired and if truth be told was feeling considerable mental strain. He had returned from a meeting at the Pentagon only the day before when he had fully briefed the general staff and President himself of the current situation, promising to update them as soon as more was known. It was not a pleasant task and the meeting was fraught with speculation as to what could be done.

  “We cannot allow mass hysteria,” the President had stated, “which will of itself result in potentially hundreds of thousands of casualties.”

  “Mr President, it may be taken out of our hands, by the Chinese and Europeans, for if we can see it, so can they,” Jackson had reminded the high-level assembled people.

  “We are working well together at a scientific level, but international politics are another matter,” he added poignantly.

  The President hardly needed to be reminded of such a thing, and he said that the United Nations would have to be involved, and soon.

  Back in the quiet of the science campus where he now resided in his office, sitting opposite him on a comfortable sofa was Thomas Mulvaney, old friend and confidant and on this day the bearer of news that confirmed the international scientific opinion of the crisis at hand. Thomas held a doctorate in physics and was these days in charge of public relations for the organisation and was an old hand at spin, but this was something totally different.

  “There is no doubt?” said Jackson at length, knowing the answer of course but keen to tease out any meagre vestiges of hope. He cut a powerful figure which was enhanced by grey hair cut short in a severe military style to cover early balding.

  His countenance was one of weariness from long hours of work and anxiety, but his thin frame nevertheless stood erect, a legacy from his days active in the air force where he had reached the rank of brigadier general, now on secondment to a special unit at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, in which his role had all the appearances of being permanent. He was not the head of this august organisation but in charge of special projects, which was generally seen as a euphemism for work involving a military dimension. He occasionally returned to an air force base somewhere to fly jets to keep his hand in practice and he was asked now and again to don his uniform where one star was needed for a display of power and authority.

  As was the case with many people when faced with overwhelming news of tragedy, where they felt helpless, Thomas’s face took on a strange steely rictus-like grin, a primaeval protective mechanism.

  “None. Calculations have been verified to within a few miles of error.” This was not news to the General.

  “So accurate?”

  “Amazing isn't it?” said Thomas.

  “Security is maintained?”

  “Absolute.”

  Jackson stood up and wandered around the room, not so much pacing but lightly perambulating around the furniture.

  “And what is the latest estimate of how long?” he asked quietly.

  “Three years, three weeks and four days.”

  Jackson had already made a mental calculation of about three yea
rs and knew the assessment made initially by Judith Judgement, so he was not surprised at his friend’s answer and knew the dire prognosis of what was coming.

  Their growing melancholy was cut short by a knock on the door, followed by the appearance of one of the best scientific brains in the country, possessed by Dr Brandi Kovach, a lady in her early thirties, her mind juxtaposed with a physical appearance which was stunning by any standards, with her alluring eyes, lithe limbs and long dark hair. To many people, Brandi was something of an anachronism. A brilliant Ivy League and Rhodes scholar she came from a poor background from what used to be called sharecroppers in the deep South, although to listen to her one would never know from her cultured accent, which was a mixture of southern charm, English upper class and mid-west down-home, all gained from her travels and education and a tribute to her acute ear of being able to assimilate local cultures.

  A prodigy as a child, her mathematical ability was very great indeed and she had taken a doctorate whilst still in her teens. Her family were amazed at all this and their rather poor background was at variance with the success of the cuckoo in the nest, something they much prized. Some of their rather narrow-minded neighbours would have blocked any such fancy ideas of progression out of the poverty which had governed generations of their family on the traditional basis of the working class that what was good enough for the rest of them should be good enough for her. Such types would have buried their daughter with insisting on marriage to a small-time farmer and six children. Not so the Kovach clan and they gave her every support they could and saw her grow to be incredibly attractive and much in demand by members of the opposite sex.