The President looked at the monitor, He slowly shook his head, “No, there’s not much reason to spend our limited resources. Let’s increase our efforts to save as many people we can. I want everything we can do to save as many as possible. Make sure this gets broadcast. We want people to see what could happen if they don’t listen and move NOW. How long until the large rock hits?”
“Three hours.”
“Sound the air raid sirens though the entire country. Invoke the emergency orders to take over all of the broadcast stations, issue the last warning and tell everyone to get out now.”
The Director of FEMA said, “Sir, may I suggest we hold off and allow the rock to hit before we send millions onto the already jammed roads. If the rock shifts when it hits the atmosphere, we might be sending people to the deaths. If the rock strikes Russia or Europe, we’ll have time to move those who have remained behind.”
“What’s the worst-case scenario we’ll see if the rock hits Europe or Russia?”
“Sir, we’ll most likely see earthquakes along every fault line, bridges will fall, most large buildings will collapse. The sky will darken, it depends on where the rock hits, if it strikes the ocean we’ll see massive tidal waves which will make the ones that just washed Chicago away look like ripples in a calm lake.”
“You’re suggesting we just wait and see what happens?”
“Yes, sir. We might be sending people out on the interstates which might get washed away.”
“Okay, I’ll wait. Schedule the broadcast for after the rock hits and we have some data on what to expect.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Can you display the rock’s course on the monitor?”
“Of course, I’ll put it up now, you’ll see it’s course marked in red as it approaches the Earth.”
The command room inside Cheyenne Mountain was silent as every eye watched the dotted red line representing ‘Robert’s Rock’ approach Earth. Those who had to speak into their microphone or telephones did so in hushed whispers. No one wanted to interrupt the President’s concentration.
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‘Robert’s Rock’ entered Earth’s upper atmosphere and it began to glow as friction heated its surface. Cracks appeared in the rock where the nuclear missiles had struck the rock. These cracks lengthened and deepened as stresses deepened in the rock. The cracks began to break, the radar returns showed the rock breaking up to those in Cheyenne Mountain and the Russian counterpart. Russian President Aristov called President Lanoha, “My friend the large telescopes and the cameras on the international space station have produced some very scary images, have you seen them? The damn rock is cracking and beginning to split!”
“Yes, we see it too. We can’t plot where these splinters will land until they fully break off from the main rock.”
“Yes, my people told me the same thing. Do your people still say the main body will land on Moscow?”
President Lanoha looked at the tracking experts who held up a thumb showing they agreed the rock was going to land on Moscow.
“Mine just confirmed the rock will still land on your capital. I wish there was something we could do…”
“I plan to launch every surface to surface missile as the rock enters the lower atmosphere. We’re hoping we can break it up…”
“You may break it up, but it may then cause more damage.”
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take in order to save as much of Moscow as we can.”
“Good luck.”
“You too. Let’s talk again after the rocks have landed.”
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The President contacted the Vice President who was in one of the new shelters in central Texas to make sure he was watching the same images he and the command crew watched as the rock split, large splinters began falling through the atmosphere, the first one was a quarter of a mile long and only a few hundred yards thick. It cut through the atmosphere and crashed into Mount St. Helen's which is 50 miles north of Portland and 90 miles south of Seattle. The splinter dove into the volcano which combined with the built-up lava and gases yielded a massive eruption which blew debris 100,000 feet into the atmosphere and also destroyed a third of the height of the volcano. Lava, ash, and poisonous gases shot into the sky and landed as far away as Portland International Airport.
The eruption created an earthquake of 7.7 which was felt all the way to Bakersfield to the south and Vancouver BC, Canada to the north. A second splinter struck Japan, a third destroyed New Delhi in India, a fourth returned the southern tip of Florida, including the city of Miami to the Everglades and the Atlantic Ocean. Over eight million people died in the splinter strike which destroyed Miami and the area around it. The thermo pulse set buildings as far north as Cape Kennedy on fire. Massive fire storms swept the area.
The splinter that struck India also shattered three nuclear reactors which spread deadly radiation across the subcontinent. A large splinter landed in the Suez Canal which destroyed it. Another landed on the Muslim holy city of Mecca which caused millions to think the Israelis had launched an attack on Mecca. Iran instantly responded by launching hundreds of missiles against Israel who responded by launching nuclear tipped missiles at Iran and Syria, both were destroyed.
A large splinter landed just offshore near Hong Kong which sent massive waves that washed over and flooded Hong Kong, killing over fifteen million. A massive splinter landed in the Sahara Desert which sent billions of tons of sand into the upper atmosphere. This, combined with the Mt. St. Helen's eruption, quickly began spreading debris around the upper atmosphere which began to block the sunlight from reaching the ground. The sky in the northern hemisphere at 2
