A reporter from the NY Times asked, “General, why was the warhead armed before the rocket reached space?”
“We armed the warheads when the rockets cleared the tower in case we lost communication with them in space. Looking back, it was a horrible mistake. We lost the launch facility and hundreds of our best people.”
The loss of two of the six rockets meant there wasn’t enough mega-tonnage to shift the rock’s path, so across Russia and in America the modified ICBMs were made ready to launch. In both countries, silo covers slid back showing the nose cones of their deadly ICBMs, truck launched missiles stopped at their launch locations and raised their deadly cargo. When all of the missiles showed they were ready, fingers entered passwords, they turned launch keys and hundreds of missiles leaped from the silos and trucks into space. The rock was moving at a little over 50,000 Mph, the rockets left Earth’s gravity well at a little over 19,000 Mph, thus the closure rate was a little over 70,000 Mph.
There wasn’t any GPS to guide the missiles to their target, their flight path had been programmed before they launched. It was the scientists’ best guess of where the rock would be, they’d have to strike to shift its orbit just enough to miss the Earth. Of the four Russian super rockets that launched, the first exploded exactly at the right spot, however it broke off shards of the two-mile-long rock. The second warhead also exploded in the right spot, it too broke off additional shards, this was something the scientists on Earth had feared. Each shard if it managed to make it through Earth’s atmosphere could destroy a small city. The third rocket missed its target, it exploded just to the side of the rock, the wrong side, pushing it ever more towards the Earth and unless corrected, a spot a little further south than where it was projected would strike. The fourth warhead failed to explode, it slammed into the rock and broke into hundreds of pieces.
Both countries ICBMs began launching within three minutes of the disaster in space. Six missiles malfunctioned and fell back onto their launchers, their fuel tanks exploded, the warheads, not having armed yet, didn’t explode. One of the American missiles mustn’t have had its new programming installed because it’s three 350 Kt warheads struck and destroyed Beijing. The three warheads exploded over the capital of China, instantly killing over a billion people. China threatened to counterattack America when President Lanoha threatened to launch America’s remaining submarine launched and bombers at the Chinese if they launched at America. The President promised China that it was a mistake and America would pay China to rebuild their capital knowing it was a meaningless offer because if the asteroid struck, the world would have much larger problems then the loss of one city. Secretly President Lanoha thought it was a miracle only one missile attacked its original target. They had rushed the reprogramming too quickly and most of his nuclear experts said they thought there was a possibility of a few missiles going off course and striking their original targets. They were proven correct.
Twenty-five of the ICBMs that left the atmosphere began drifting off course within minutes of heading towards the asteroid. The rest arrived fifty-six minutes after the fourth rocket slammed into the rock which shook off the explosion without shifting course. The missiles arrived in small groups, as they had been launched. It took twenty minutes for all of the missiles to arrive and explode. Of the 613 missiles launched, 522 warheads exploded. The problem with the ICBMs were, they were designed to be city killers, each missile carried three to six smaller nukes that would easily destroy a city or military base, but such warheads couldn’t and didn’t budge the massive asteroid. Some of the ICBMs simply missed the rock or struck in the wrong locations, usually only leaving another crater, and breaking off additional shards of the rock.
Imus spent the time between the missiles launch and their striking ‘his rock’ in the university’s science department studying all of the data. NASA and NORAD (North American Air Defense) sent their latest data to Imus so he could assist plotting any changes in the rock’s orbit. Thirty minutes after the last ICBM struck Imus called NASA, “Director Milton, have you seen the latest numbers?”
“I’m looking at them now, what do you see?”
“It looks like the Russians moved the rock alright, but they moved it so it will impact Moscow! They’ve brought the damn thing down on top of their heads.”
“Give me a moment.”
Before Milton could respond, NORAD which had been on the line responded, “Dr. Imus is correct, we show the rock impacting Moscow. We need to contact the president as quickly as possible.”
Imus asked, “Do you think the Russians know?”
NORAD said, “I assume they do, but the President should tell them.”
At the same time in Russia’s nuclear bunker, inside a mountain similar to Cheyenne Mountain, the President held a tablet while staring at one of his generals. “Are you one hundred percent sure the damn thing is going to drop on our heads?”
“Yes, Mr. President, we triple checked the numbers. It’s going to flatten Moscow. Not really flatten, it’s going to dig a massive, close to one hundred miles across, crater where Moscow once stood.”
A voice in bunker said, “Mr. President, the American President is calling.”
“Yes, yes, I’m sure he is. He’s going to tell me what I already know, Americans have such perfect timing. Give me the call.”
Chapter 12
Trinity
