Judgement Day Read online

  She was resolute in making sure that her private life remained so and in this her parents were sure that she was as pure as the driven snow, at least in her teens. Now as a mature woman, after years of interaction with well-heeled blue-stockinged co-students, she dressed well and in recent times due to her better economic prosperity, expensively. Jackson wondered more than once whether she had a rich boyfriend, but none such had ever been seen with her, all of which added to her mystery and allurement if truth be told.

  Brandi liked the General from the moment that she had been asked to meet him, summoned to see him in reality on the recommendation of her professors, and she found him very interesting and intellectually her equal, which sat well with his power and authority. She had secretly dated a few men, boys really, but they seemed to be keen only on her body and she soon tired of them. One of the negatives of being so clever was that she became easily bored with men and women who did not mentally joust with her, and she had realised that she had taken on the mantle of not suffering fools gladly, a trait which she despised in herself. On this latter matter, she knew her mother, a woman of high religious ideals, would frown because of the need for patience and kindness in dealing with fellow human beings, and this was a struggle for Brandi because her mind worked at the speed of light when compared to the plodding of the average John Doe.

  She smiled at her boss and was beckoned inside to join the others. She was closely followed by an aide who brought coffee and three china cups and there was a short break whilst the drinks were poured, after which the aide, Jackson’s all round saviour Janet, a middle-aged lady who had been his secretary for three years, retired and shut the door.

  Brandi continued to smile at the men, and they could both see from her countenance that she was the bearer of further news and whatever it was she found it to be exciting. Jackson resumed his seat and sipped the black liquid, waiting for Brandi, only three years’ his junior but, he freely admitted to himself, way ahead in intelligence. He wondered not for the first time why he was invariably attracted to clever women. He had recruited her only a year ago and knew his choice had been correct.

  “Needless to say, the President has asked that we urgently come up with a solution,” said Jackson.

  “About blasting it out of the sky with nuclear weapons?” said Thomas lightly although he knew the General’s demeanour was grim.

  Brandi shifted in her seat at this suggestion, but she knew that they would find a great deal of interest in this panacea from the general population who seemed to hold tremendous confidence in the power of the nuclear bomb.

  “Sounds good doesn’t it?” said Jackson, “but firing a large multi-megaton device into the atmosphere and across millions of miles is somewhat problematic.”

  The delicacy of his reply was in sharp contrast to the violence of the proposed remedy.

  “Even if the existence of mankind depended on it?” said Thomas.

  “As an absolute last resort maybe but it's fraught with danger,” said Jackson.

  “The object is still half a billion miles away,” said Brandi, “so even firing a rocket at fifty thousand miles an hour, which is very fast by current standards, would take nearly two years to reach given a closing speed of seventy thousand miles an hour. And, of course, the longer we leave it the greater the angle of deflection we’ll need.”

  “What about lasers?” said Thomas hopefully.

  “Not powerful enough to make any difference to an object that big,” replied Brandi.

  “Wasn't there a movie recently about miners who went on to an asteroid and drilled into it?” said Thomas.

  “There was but I wouldn’t rely on that solution,” said Jackson dryly.

  “Not doing very well are we?” he added, and they all paused for thought.

  “Whilst we are at it,” he continued, “do we have an assessment of the impact on Earth should it hit?”

  “The view is that a strike by an asteroid that big, even if a lot of it is burned up coming through the atmosphere, would amount to an extinction event, on a par with the meteorite that destroyed the dinosaurs,” said Brandi.

  The remains of the coffee were consumed with a melancholic air as they sat and pondered what on earth should be the next step.

  “We need to think out of the box,” said Brandi.

  “True,” said Jackson, “but how so?”

  “Well, we’ve been focusing on the very large because the asteroid is massive, but perhaps we should consider the very small instead?”

  Thomas looked nonplussed at this exchange but held his peace. His skill was in presenting science to the outside world rather than the deep theoretical physics aspects which he knew would be needed.

  “Go on,” said Jackson.

  Brandi was warming up to her work.

  “Well, we need to send something as quickly as possible to intercept the asteroid and if we can do that, we will only need to move the object by a very small number of degrees, maybe a fraction of a degree, for it to miss Earth altogether.”

  “One of the blue sky conceptual projects currently being considered, which we may be able to apply here,” she continued, “is to send a probe into deep space, particularly to Alpha Centuri our nearest star, by means of powering tiny and light sheets of some substance by firing lasers at them. They can be sent at a fair proportion of the speed of light in due course as the effect of the laser ray speeds them up, so maybe there's some way we can use that idea with the asteroid to deflect it.”

  Jackson stood up and once again paced around the room, which Brandi knew from experience meant that he was interested in what she had said, and his brain was in top gear.

  “Okay, let's investigate this,” he said after a short while. In any case, ideas were thin on the ground.

  The meeting came to an end and Jackson said to Thomas: “I'd like to meet Dr Judgement.”

  “I'll arrange it,” said Thomas, “we’ll have to have a story ready for when the press is told what’s happening and the photograph of our astronomer will help, I believe.”

  Later that evening Brian drove around to Judith's apartment to collect and take her for a drink, and he hoped dinner afterwards. He dressed in his smartest casual outfit of chinos and a cotton jacket with an open necked shirt, the effects being to disguise a slightly portly figure. Judith was dressed in a pretty blouse and skirt the colours of which had been carefully chosen by one of her girlfriends, the effect being to show off her attributes in the best possible way. As far as Brian was concerned, she could have been wearing a sack he would not have cared, and when she opened the door, he thought she looked beautiful.

  “I’m going to see the General tomorrow,” she said as soon as he entered her apartment.

  “He expects that the news can't be hidden for much longer. I’ve already received messages from Switzerland and the United Kingdom, and I expect the Chinese will be on to it very quickly.”

  “This means that you’ll be a celebrity very soon,” he said and laughed, although he could see that she was not happy about it.

  “What’s the saying, “sufficient unto the day are the troubles thereof?” All this is for another day,” he added, “so tonight let's go for a drink and forget about everything for now.”

  The evening turned out to be magical and they were soon chatting away over a cocktail and when Brian asked if she would come for dinner, she readily agreed and they wandered out of the bar and went somewhere simple, which turned out to be a Chinese restaurant.

  “I'm glad we're doing this,” said Brian.

  “So am I,” she replied.

  “I've been wanting to ask you out for ages,” he said rather shyly.

  “Now that I am a celebrity, I suppose?” she teased and smiled, at which he looked crestfallen.

  “And I've been wanting to go too,” she added and reached over the table and gripped his hand and squeezed it, whereupon he immediately kissed her lips.

  The kiss lingered and they were glad that the restaurant
was almost empty. This intimate act came to be a turning point for each of them and they did not want it to end because it was as if they were taking refuge in the other if only for a fleeting moment. As they kissed, Judith thought that at least she if she died at the hands of the asteroid, she would go happy and intended do it in the arms of this man. The idea cheered her, and she did not want anything else at that moment. At length, however, they moved on and finished their meal and later and after much talk about life in general, Brian dropped her back at her apartment and the night ended somewhat chastely.

  “I'll come with you tomorrow when you see the General,” he said, and she nodded with relief.

  Despite all that has been going on they both slept well in their respective apartments and met again the next morning and at eleven o'clock sharp and travelled to the large administration officers where the General was located.

  General Etheridge was pleased to see them and shook them warmly by the hand. He asked Judith about her work and was also keen to understand what Brian did too and he made them very welcome as they relaxed over coffee which was served in china cups reserved for dignitaries.

  “You know that this is important news and can't be kept secret for long,” said Jackson.

  “You’ll become famous whether you like it or not,” he continued and laughed.

  “But once all the fuss dies down, we’ll need to move to the serious matter of trying to stop the asteroid from hitting Earth. You’ve at least given us fair warning of its existence, and if nothing else this will enable us to argue for more money for research work,” he added kindly.

  In due course photographers appeared with Thomas Mulvaney and several pictures were taken of the group. Judith was glad that she had worn her smartest outfit and Brian too was well dressed and pleased that he did not look slovenly for once.

  ****************************

  Several thousand miles away in a laboratory just outside Beijing a great mass of officials had gathered to discuss disturbing information which had come to light. Scientists had found out about the large asteroid and now were considering what to do.

  “The west will know all about it, I’m sure,” said the senior scientist present, “and perhaps we should pool our resources with them to try to stop the demise of the world,” he added grandly, as if the planet’s survival was in the bailiwick of mere mortals.

  This generous view was not shared by one senior government official who made sure that he attended the meeting, for it was not considered a good or appropriate thing for scientists to step into the realm of international relations. The official was thinking already of political advantage and ways to increase his country's influence around the world. What he did not realise was the extent to which scientists around the globe communicated with each other at a professional level and the scientist in China who had discovered the asteroid, Dr Chan Xi, had already been in contact with his opposite number in the United States, a certain Dr Judgement, and similarly with contacts in Europe. They had unanimously agreed in principle to work together whatever their respective lords and masters may demand. Chan Xi spoke very good English having worked at universities in England and America for many years before he had returned to his homeland and as a result, he was well respected in the west.

  Separately and deep inside the security departments in Beijing the same discussions concerning the options of what to do next were taking place but this time focussing on the potential use of nuclear weapons, lasers or some other means to stop the asteroid but they were certain that they had reached the same conclusion as their counterparts in the west regarding risks and difficulties.

  Unbeknown to the scientists in China or their political leaders, one of the people present at the large meeting was a member of a fundamental religious cult, known as “Truth”, which craved for the cleansing of humanity and to him the thought of extinction of human life on Earth was a good solution. In fact, this was something that he and his cult members had desired with great intensity for years, for in each of their minds, death was the ultimate freedom. The man had set his heart on preventing any measures which would stop the asteroid from doing its righteous work. The members of the cult were unsure as to what happened after their own deaths and some of them mixed up a belief in the afterlife with an assumption of reincarnation, so that humans would be given second chances in an odd blending of the beliefs of the west and that of many eastern religions.

  The cult to which he belonged had widespread tentacles around the world and he soon made contact in the west with people who were highly placed, for the organisation had nurtured clever but susceptible people, and they were able to communicate secretly through ultra-secure channels without fear of being discovered. The members in the network around the globe were of one mind but they decided to bide their time for now to find out just what the world’s scientists and national governments would attempt, on the basis that once they knew they could sabotage the efforts to achieve their goals. These were driven men and women and they had no time for people who did not agree with their philosophy. They were inherent supporters of the need for re-education and many of the older members, men in the main who sported long grey wispy beards, although there were some females too, had experienced the cleansing of society and its bourgeoisie under Chairman Mao.

  Like all death-cults, which description they would refute, they did not see themselves as other than righteous and had no issue at all in sacrificing themselves to achieve their ends. Indeed, on one recent occasion three of the members had voluntarily committed suicide to bring about mayhem for their chosen goal, which was a bomb placed at an airport. Government investigations into the atrocity in question had not discovered who was behind it and their international web had been careful in its sophisticated hiding of their goals and true extent of their network around the world.

  So clever had they become that one of the Chinese representatives, Deng Qui, who was a close friend of Dr Chen Xi, had for years built close relationships with high-ranking people across several walks of life in the United States. These people were buried like moles in the fabric of the scientific and political community waiting until the order came through from the cult-master, a person few had met in person, something that added to his mystery and majesty. They revered the Master’s philosophy and iron fist approach to those he, and by extension all members of Truth, regarded as decadent. It was a view of absolute black and white with no room for any shades of grey and they took the chilling view that non-members were not enlightened and lived at a lower level of consciousness and were therefore expendable.

  Chapter Three

  There was a great deal of manoeuvring behind the scenes as the United States ambassador to the United Nations had quiet words with his opposite numbers of certain countries, with the result that the Security Council met in secret and considered the generally pooled information regarding the impending threat to life, albeit in three years’ time. Despite their own individual political interests, the major countries and nuclear powers had long decided to work together closely in any such situation, but this had been theoretical until now. This declaration of cooperation had gained a great deal of press attention for many years and generally people lauded the investment in humanity and thus in due course there emerged a naïve hope of a new world order resulting from fresh close bonds around the globe.

  The leaders of each of these countries went along with this with respect to the matter in hand, being the small issue of annihilation, but they had their own reservations and were still reluctant to pass on to hitherto alien powers military secrets or details of potential weapons that could make a difference to the global balance of power, and this inevitably slowed matters down, but nevertheless progress was made.

  As expected, in parallel with the closed Security Council meeting, Judith had become a world figure particularly as the asteroid was immediately named “Judgement” by the popular press and the name stuck. Certain religious groups came to see the poignancy of the situat
ion with delectation, for there was nothing like righteous judgement of sinners to cause fulsome fire and brimstone wrath from the pulpit.

  After two months of a “phoney war” interlude, it was clear that nobody had any real solution to the looming threat to Earth. In the United States, Brandi had been very quiet whilst she worked away at her desk, assessing potential avenues of invention that might, just might, make a difference. Jackson had been happy to leave her to her own super devices and they met once a week over coffee to discuss progress. Needless to say, he was under increasing pressure from the President to come up with something plausible not only to save humanity but to show a lead from the most powerful western country. This latter reason did not hold much water with Jackson, but nevertheless he had to go along with it. In his view matters had progressed way beyond national borders and interests and he considered that if humanity was not to go the way of the dinosaurs then this would be a pre-requisite. In the matter of finding a solution he did not at all have full confidence and as the days passed by he became more subdued.

  Judith and Brian continued their work in monitoring the massive object but felt impotent to do much more than that, merely reporting on progress across the heavens of the body approaching Earth at high speed. However, their frustrating days and long hours, coupled with interminable meetings and conference calls around the world, were mitigated by the growing relationship they had with each other. Judgement had served to stir them both on to bold new pastures and they revelled in their growing maturity and their colleagues could see love blossoming. Brian had taken to shopping for new clothes and he had gone on a diet, eschewing junk food in the main and he by now had started to attend a gym to remove what he saw as a rather fat midriff, and all this gave each of them the impression of being like young teenagers starting out in life.

  Judith wore her celebrity lightly and her work colleagues could see that this had not gone to her head in any way at all, despite her being asked to give interviews on television from time to time. All this meant that as a result she had become more confident. She had been contacted by scientists in China and they held regular video conference meetings, and all this made her feel better about herself. Brian could see coming to the fore the hidden beauty in her, and her wit and humour was now more apparent, and she found that people respected her even more than previously. In Brian’s opinion, the attractiveness of a woman went much further than being merely skin-deep, and if any woman could be seen as the epitome of such a thing, it was Judith. He whole countenance had altered as if she had broken free from some invisible bonds.