“That’s real enough.”
Jon paused to look up into the gray sky, “Lord, I know I haven’t spoken to you in a while but thank you for bringing my family back. I owe you one now, so whatever you ask of me will be done. Thank you, amen.”
Midway through their soup, the Colonel checked on each woman and girl. He told the six who weren’t part of the Coats family that their records showed their families were no longer in the area. He was happy to take them south with them. Three of the women said they knew where their families had moved to, so the Colonel sent a message to that settlement saying they’d rescued their family. The others said they had no family because theirs had been killed when they were taken by the gangs. Two of the young women said they’d been captives for five months and said if they had been not rescued soon they were looking for ways to kill themselves. The Colonel assured them they were safe. He also told them the medics were waiting to check on them and to make them feel better, they would be checked by female medics.
The Colonel sat with the Coats, “I’m happy we were able to save your family, your SUV is toast. There were many such vehicles left behind when the people in the area were moved south. I had a handful of them brought into the base which we used for local transportation. When you’re finished with your meal, I’ll show you three of them, you can choose one and we’ll do the paperwork to transfer it to you.”
Jon was shocked, “Just like that, boom, you’re giving it to us?”
“Yup, we have more vehicles then people now. All three are larger than your SUV so the four of you will have plenty of room. They have chains on, and we’ve installed nav and radios, so you’ll be able to speak with us.”
“I really don’t know what to say…”
“Just say thank you.”
“I can’t wait to see them.”
Erin placed a hand on Jon’s arm, “Honey what happened to all of our stuff in our old SUV?”
“I was able to salvage one bag, the rest the gang took, we’ll never see them again.”
Erin sadly shook her head, “Our clothes, our pictures…”
The Colonel touched Erin’s shoulder, “Clothing we can give you and pictures can be retaken. You have your family and your memories, that’s a lot more than many have.”
Tears welled up in Erin’s eyes, she nodded and asked her family for a group hug.
Chapter 13
President Aristov told President Lanoha, “I admit we failed. Your people were right, the rock is too large and moving too quickly. What do you suggest we do now?”
“I believe we’re going to have to tell the world we can’t stop the rock…”
“You know what comes next, mass riots which will sweep around the world. I suggest we announce we’re still investigating the results, we know the rock has been moved, but we have to calculate by how much. I know you’re preparing to move your people to your south and southwest, I do not have the same luxury.”
“Should I ask what you’re planning?”
“You shouldn’t and I’m asking you to close your eyes to what’s going to happen.”
“Can I ask if you’re going to attack someone…”
“Please do not ask, and before you think of saying anything, let me ask, what would you do in my shoes? If the projections said all of your land was going to be covered under the glaciers, what would you do to save your family, to save your people, to save your history? Think of that before you answer me.”
“There are many places with lots of open land, before you invade someone and start a world war, let’s discuss this in detail. Why don’t we meet again?”
“It is too late to stop what is going to happen, the order has been signed and if you attempt to slow us down or stop us, we will attack you. I don’t want to, but I will do anything in order to save my people.”
“Even if it means killing others. That’s crazy?”
“Call me crazy when you hid the fact of the asteroid from us. You took away the time we might have been able to use to develop a joint approach to moving it. You took away the Russian people’s chance for survival. Crazy is we’re going to live through the start of a new ice age. Crazy is you opening your borders to the Canadian people and telling me I have to let mine freeze to death. Crazy is what is coming and there’s nothing we can do about it. Yes, I am crazy and if you were in my shoes, you would be too. I suggest we make our announcement tomorrow.”
“I agree. I’ll be waiting to see what you plan. If you cross a line, I may have to do something to stop you.”
President Aristov laughed and disconnected the call.
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Billions of people held their breath while they waited for the announcement the two Presidents announced they were going to make. At the appointed time you could hear a pin drop as everyone waited to listen to what they were going to be told. Billions prayed that God had a hand in gently shifting the asteroid just enough to miss the Earth. The two Presidents again stood in front of two podiums with the slowly rotating image of the Earth in space. President Lanoha’s face looked incredibly sad as he looked into the eyes of the billions watching him. “Fellow people of the planet Earth, President Aristov and I have done everything that our scientists have suggested, we’ve also done some things they said were impossible, yet we did them anyway. We’ve struck the asteroid with over five thousand megatons of
