At 2 PM, Imus and Professor Wright were led to the Situation Room where they were surprised to find the Joint Chiefs of the four military branches, the Commander of the USCG, the Secretaries of DHS, DoJ, DoD, Finance, and HHS. Imus whispered, “I think we should have created a better presentation.”
“Me too, but it’s too late now. I didn’t know we were going to be presenting to the Cabinet. I’m sorry.” A moment later the door opened, and the President’s Chief of Staff announced, “Ladies and Gentlemen, the President.” Everyone stood, President Lanoha entered, “Sit, sit. I believe we may be in for a long afternoon. I’m sorry to have pulled everyone in on a nice Saturday. Our two guests are the cause of our ruined weekend so let’s get started. Our two guests are Professor of Space Studies Wright and the person who caused this mess, Grad Student Robert Imus. Welcome to the White House, I will turn the meeting over to the two of you, but please limit the huge scientific words and explain in plain language what you’ve discovered and why it’s a threat to the nation and American people.”
Two hours later, Imus sat down and looked around the silent room. He wasn’t sure if he’d lost them or screwed up. He looked around the large table and was about to ask a question when Professor Wright touched his arm to keep him quiet. He leaned over whispering, “Sit and don’t say a word unless asked. You did a great job.”
The room was silent for five exceedingly long minutes. President Lanoha shook his head, “Let me see if I understand this, you discovered this massive rock which is coming towards us and is projected to strike the planet in less than six months, did I miss anything?”
Imus quietly replied, “Sir, that’s correct. It’s projected to strike someplace in the Northern Hemisphere. I lacked the computing power to calculate where.”
A man who had been sitting in the corner of the room, one who hadn’t introduced himself said, “I can handle that. Do you have your data on a CD Rom or memory stick?”
Imus nodded, “I do…”
“Please pass it down to me, I’ll have our computers determine where it will strike.”
Imus reached into his inner coat pocket and withdrew a stack of CD disks held together by a green rubber band. “Here they are.”
Holding the disks, the stranger smiled, “No more than a couple of hours. Sir, if you’ll excuse me, I’ll have these carried to the office.”
“Please do whatever you have to. I have a feeling we’ll be here when your computers tell us where the rock will land. Maybe your computers will tell us the damn thing will miss us and this day had been a waste.”
The President smiled, “I have some refreshments coming over and they’ll help us pass the time. While we wait, I’d like to hold discussions based on where the rock will strike the Earth. One, it strikes us, two, it strikes one of the oceans, three, it strikes Europe, and four, it strikes Russia or China. In general, let’s listen to our two experts explain what will happen if the rock strikes us. Professor, the floor is yours.”
“Mr. President, Generals and Admiral, Secretaries, ladies and gentlemen, if the rock strikes our little blue planet, the answer is quite simple, we will all die. The rock is large enough to be our extinction event.”
The General of the Army asked, “Do you mean like the end of the dinosaurs?”
“Yes, that’s correct. If it hits the land, it will throw enough debris into the atmosphere to block sunlight from reaching the ground. No sunlight, no plants, no feed animals, no food, the average planetary temperature will drop, it will most likely cause a new major ice age, it might also dig a massive hole in our ozone layer allowing radiation to flow in. If lands in one of the oceans, it will create massive tidal waves which could reach over five hundred feet high and wash away every coastal city, and oh yes, it will reduce the amount of oxygen on the planet.”
The President and staff’s faces’ paled. The President asked, “What can we do?”
“Sir, this isn’t like the movies. We don’t have the time to build a ship to land people on the rock, we don’t have a weapon large enough to destroy it, and if we did hit it with nuclear weapons, it could break it up into smaller rocks that hit us like a like a shotgun. Sir, I’m sorry, there really isn’t anything we can do.”
President Lanoha frowned, “Never tell me there’s nothing we can do. I was told there wasn’t a snowballs chance in Hell I could get elected and here I am in my second term. As long as we’re alive, there’s a chance we can do something. I’m not prepared to throw my hands up and give in. Let’s assume the rock does hit us and creates a new ice age, how low would the ice reach, and how long would it take to cover America. Basically, how much time would we have in each situation?”
Imus shook his head, “Mr. President, we need more information before we can respond…”
“No, you don’t. You can make assumptions based on previous rocks which have previously struck the planet. I want to hear options, the more the better. We can’t give up, we’re talking about the world, nine plus billion.”
Chapter 6
The Coats family was silent after the shooting. The two teens shook in the backseat. The wind howled, combined with the ice and snow-covered roads, it caused the SUV to rock back and forth. Erin told Jon, “The girls and I are getting seasick. You need to find a smoother track or stop and let our stomachs settle a little bit.”
