Extinction 6
Page 21
“They did know. People in the 20th century knew that global temperatures were rising, but they did nothing. They understood they were handing a loaded gun to the next generation.”
“You think so?”
“Yes! They fracked their lands and quarried tar sands with greed in their eyes, denying climate change to make a buck.”
“That’s shameful.”
“Oil tycoons and heads of state were complicit in the most diabolical denial of all time, taking the planet to its sixth extinction.”
“But why?”
“Blame it on the ego and its selfish quest for survival. Don’t get me started on this.” She stands and stretches. “Sorry, I have to get back to work. The X10 is nearly assembled.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Stay here and be ready to ignite the laser when I give you the signal.”
“You got it.”
She walks down the staircase and spots the timer.
68:12, 68:11, 68:10…
Her pace quickens and she runs towards her staff.
An hour left to go.
Austin and his workers unload the last crate from the fourth truck and lay it on the ground in tandem with the other three pieces. They hurry to bolt the units together, forming a linear array that runs perpendicular to the neodymium gun.
Beth approaches Austin. “What’s the status?”
“We’re nearly done. I just need to boot it up and run system checks.”
“Can you show me how the laser intersects the titanium field?”
“Sure.” He leads her along the X10. “The titanium atoms will fly down this chute. We carved a hollow opening along the track.” He points to a T-shaped device mounted to the accelerator. “That’s where we installed the gravity engine. Take a look.”
She stares at the T-shaped anchor and touches its metallic glass. “It’s sleek. Anil did a great job with this.” She kneels and peers through its hole, staring down the barrel of the neodymium gun. “The alignment looks perfect. Great job.”
Austin points to the red mark on the reactor. “The beam should fly through the titanium and hit that spot.”
“Then we’ll get to our magic number of 100 million degrees.”
“Let’s hope,” Austin whispers.
Beth appears roused. “There’s no time to waste. Why don’t you boot up your X10? I’ll get the laser warmed up.”
“Sounds good.”
She turns to the office. “Pete, turn on the machine!”
The warehouse lights flicker on and off as the device powers on. A vibrating hum flows through the ground and echoes off the walls. Beth feels the thumping as she walks.
58:24, 58:23, 58:22…
She rushes to Anil. “Have you linked the reactor to the grid like we discussed?”
Sweat drips from Anil’s forehead as he picks up a thick bundle of wires. “Almost. We finished the transformer and fastened an ultra-high-voltage cable to it. We just have to drag it outside and attach its other end.”
“Is the other line anchored to the old plant?”
“Yes.” He points to the hole in the wall. “The engineers are outside waiting for my end.”
“Hurry and make that connection.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll have it done momentarily.”
“Perfect. Go full steam ahead and finish the job.” She hears shouting and runs across the laboratory towards Austin and his team.
“It’s powering on!” someone shrieks.
A concentrated red ray shoots from the end of the barrel and shakes the room with a high-pitched oscillation. Smoke rises as it rams into the zirconium cube.
“We’ve got contact,” Austin cries. He stands at one corner of the cross and mans the accelerator’s control panel, then turns to his associate. “Diego, hand me a titanium canister! Let’s do a dry run.”
Diego runs over with a briefcase and removes a cartridge. He helps his boss load it into the machine’s injector port.
“Prepare for testing,” Austin says before activating the machine and sending titanium ions flying along the track. A thundering electrical buzz fills the room and harmonizes with the beam’s pulsating hum.
Beth shakes her head. “This brings back horrible memories.”
“Don’t remind me,” Austin says. “Let’s hope we don’t destroy this place!”
The oscillations crescendo and a metallic smell fills the air when the laser collides with the ion field. Smoke billows from the contact point on the reactor.
The noise grows louder and Beth covers her ears. “It’s working…turn it off.”
Austin gestures to this team. “Hit the switch!”
The clamor subsides as the team powers down the X10. Upstairs, Pete places the instrument on standby mode. The room returns to calm.
Beth’s posture eases. “Well, we didn’t blow up the lab.”
Austin scans the timer. “For now. All bets are off when the gravity wave hits. We have forty-five minutes before it’s here.”
“Don’t worry, we’re on schedule.”
He breathes relief. “I can’t believe everything’s working. It’s a miracle, if you ask me.”
“That’s teamwork.”
Suddenly gunshots reverberate through the hall and someone shouts through a loudspeaker. “Everyone on the ground now!”
Austin spots an army of soldiers storming the warehouse. “What the hell is going on?”
Wearing black armor and bulletproof shields, the men march across the laboratory with their guns drawn. “Stay where you are!”
People scream and disperse. Hysteria spreads as another rifle goes off.
Diego hides behind the generator. “We’re under attack!”
Another wave of paratroopers storm the building. “Get on the fucking ground!” a gunman demands.
Anil drops the electrical wires and raises his arms. A soldier points a rifle in his face and forces him down, then cuffs him and carries him outside.
Dragged by two military officers, Beth resists and yells, “Let go of me! We’re doing important work here.”
The masked men quickly arrest the team members and drag them outside to the dirt field where six stealth jets sit idle. An officer throws Beth onto the ground.
She spits at the man. “You asshole!”
He removes his mask. “Shut your mouth, Andrews.”
She flushes in anger. “Manos? What the hell are you doing here?”
He slaps her across the face. “You are under arrest.”
Blood appears on her forehead. “Uncuff me now!”
“Sit down and be quiet. You’re charged with theft and treason. You and your crew will be transported to a military prison to await trial.”
“We haven’t done anything wrong!”
“You’ve stolen Google’s trade secrets and deleted confidential data from your servers.”
“I’m CEO. I run the company!”
“No, not any longer,” he shouts. “I’m the chief executive now and you are undermining my authority. If you don’t want to go jail, you’ll have to upload the files immediately.”
Beth spits in his face. “You’re a moron. We’re on the brink of solving the world’s energy problems and you’re standing in the way. Just look inside the lab!”
He motions to an officer to tape her mouth shut. “No more talking. You all answer to me now. I’m in charge.”
The paratroopers force Beth and her colleague to kneel on the ground. They hand laptops to the team and stand above them with rifles.
Manos looks down at them. “As your new boss, I demand that you restore the servers immediately. You will be put to work on a project to make cyber viruses for the War. Anyone who defies my order will be sent to prison.”
Anil lowers his face and cries.
28.
COLONEL ABE MCNAIR enters the cockpit of the USS Hawkeye. “Any word from Centcom?”
Captain Lionel Mercer stares at the ship’s controls. “No, sir. We’re headed
to Mars and still awaiting orders. I’m under a lot of stress.”
McNair drifts, weightless. “You know your problem, private?”
Lionel rolls his eyes. “What’s that, sir?”
“You have no sense of humor. What kind of music do planets sing?”
Lionel sits in silence.
“Neptunes.” Abe laughs at himself.
“Sir, we have work to do. Can you update the system log?”
“In the old days, we pranked people and laughed. We didn’t take life too seriously.” Abe presses a button and a candy bar ejects from a dispenser. “You youngsters are too hard on yourselves.” He swims toward the drifting snack.
“Technically, we are on high alert, Colonel.”
“Stop worrying. Nothing will happen.”
Lionel stares from the cockpit. An asteroid drifts nearby, its gray surface illuminated by sunlight. He turns to find Earth disappearing in the distance. “We’re passing 2016 HO3.”
“The rock?” Abe mutters as he munches on the chocolate. “How big is it?”
“About 200 feet.”
“That’s a baby.”
“It’s been orbiting our planet for a long time.”
Abe smiles. “Why does moon rock taste better than Earth rock, private?”
Lionel stays silent.
“It’s a little meteor.” Abe rumbles as he laughs. “You know why you don’t get it? It’s because your generation never ate real meat. Ha!”
Lionel turns to face his boss. “Sir, can you please stop talking about me like that? It’s upsetting.”
“It’s good to see you stand up for yourself. Get a backbone for once.”
A cockpit light flashes and an A.I. voice comes on. “Red Alert. Prepare to defend. Repeat, Red Alert.”
Abe freezes. “I’ve never heard that warning before.”
Lionel sits upright. “It’s an incoming missile—”
“What?”
“—Heading our way!”
“Shit!” Abe swims through the air, struggling to get back to his cockpit seat. “Pull up the radar.”
A green hologram appears above the controls. Lionel points to a yellow dot approaching their ship. “There it is. It’s coming our way!”
The robot voice blares through the speaker. “Warning…hostile in proximity.”
Abe quivers as he puts on his helmet. “Shouldn’t the A.I. know what to do?”
“It would have launched the counterattack by now.”
“I’ve never been through this before!”
Lionel ignores his boss and loads his training notes in his smartglasses, navigating to the defense section and searching for keywords.
“Red alert. Repeat, hostile in proximity!”
Abe cries. “Snooky! I never had a chance to say goodbye to my dog.”
Lionel throws a fist in the air. “Activate Iron Dome.”
“Defense system on,” the A.I. voice says.
A blazing projectile appears from the cockpit window. Abe points at it and panics. “There it is! We’re doomed!”
A fireball trails the warhead as it barrels towards the Hawkeye. The warning light flickers as the object approaches the center of the radar.
“Launch the deterrent,” Lionel shouts.
The ship rolls as a rocket torpedoes from its belly, blasting through space and smashing into the incoming missile, sending debris flying in all directions. A fiery explosion rocks the ship and shards smash into the cockpit window. Cracks appear on the screen.
Abe opens his eyes. “What happened?”
The red light turns off. “Object neutralized.”
Lionel’s heart beats madly in his chest. “Shit, that was a close call.”
“We almost died!” Abe reaches out his arms. “You saved us, youngster. Great work!”
Lionel turns away. “No thanks to you.”
Abe’s face reddens. “I’m sorry, private.”
“I will appreciate if you stop bashing me all the time.”
“Yes, private.”
“I’m a captain, not a private. Please get it right.”
Abe’s voice lowers. “Will do, captain.”
A blue flash signals an incoming transmission. “USS Hawkeye, this is Central Command.”
Lionel taps a monitor. “We read you, Houston.”
“There’s a Chinese hostile headed your way. Repeat, you are under attack.”
“Yes, we know. We neutralized a missile just now. How many are there?”
“One.”
“We’ve taken care of it.”
“Great work. Please remain on high alert.”
Abe’s hands shake. “Should we turn back home, Centcom?”
“No, Hawkeye. Continue towards Mars and be prepared for more hiccups. Repeat, do not return to Earth.”
Lionel nods. “You got it, Houston. We will proceed as planned. Any new directives?”
“Awaiting orders from CIA. Standby for now, over.”
The cockpit goes silent as debris from the blast drift through space. Lionel cracks his knuckles. “The Chinese attacked us.”
Abe looks out into the void. “That was no hiccup.”
“We have to continue the mission.”
“We’re sitting ducks out here. I don’t like this...”
Lionel chuckles. “I thought you were ready to fight the enemy, Colonel?”
“I just want to go home.”
“We have no choice. We should man up and fight back.”
They sit on edge for several minutes, glancing back and forth from the radar to the cockpit window. A blue light flashes and a deep male voice comes online. “Hawkeye, do you read me?”
“Yes, sir, this is Captain Lionel Mercer. We read you loud and clear.”
A response arrives after a lag. “This is Gareth Allen. Please listen closely.”
“Yes, sir.”
“The President has just authorized an EMP strike on New China. Prepare your electromagnetic guns for launch.”
Lionel sits upright. “To confirm, we will attack Mars?”
“That’s correct. You must stay clear of the American colony and aim for New China. Do you copy?”
“Yes.” Lionel taps a monitor and enters a passkey. “Target locked and EMP warheads loading, sir. We will strike within ten minutes.”
Abe bites his nails. “Shall we return to Earth afterward, Director Allen?”
“No. Continue towards Mars.”
“You got it,” Lionel says. “We copy you, Mr. Allen.”
Abe covers his face with his hands. “This is a disaster.”
The line disconnects. Lionel loads a real-time map of Mars. Highways crisscross the red planet and human colonies are visible within the Martian plains.
Abe glances at the map. “Which one is New China?”
Lionel points to a 200-mile-long colony in the Northern Hemisphere near the polar ice cap. “Right there.”
“What about the American one?”
“You see that?” A small white island stands out near the equator. “There’s our home. It should be easy to spare our lands and blast New China.”
“EMP is that precise?”
“Yes. Weren’t you paying attention in military school?”
Abe’s face reddens in embarrassment.
The A.I. voice comes on. “Preparing EMP rays for launch. Time to strike—9 minutes.”
Abe grows pale. “I have a bad feeling about this. Don’t you see what’s happening?”
Lionel turns to his superior. “What?”
“It’s the end times.”
“You’re being dramatic.”
“I’m not. Don’t you see?” Abe shakes his head and frowns. “China will retaliate and send more missiles our way. The only outcome from here is nuclear war and total annihilation. We’re starting the show here on the Hawkeye.”
“Relax, the President knows what he’s doing. I have faith in my commander-in-chief.”
“It’s all come to this. As soon as we
launch the EMP, the world as we know will be gone forever. It’s the end of the human race.”
Lionel stares into space. “Let’s hope you’re wrong.”
29.
AT 5:20 A.M. in Livermore, Anil looks to the east and spots the faint glow of daybreak. He sits handcuffed on the dirt field next to his colleagues as military paratroopers encircle the group.
Ten minutes left.
He lowers his head and avoids eye contact with the soldiers on patrol. Careful not to attract attention, he subtly sends a message through his Vision smartglasses. “Dr. Sanders, I have to go back inside.”
Austin looks up and stares at his young programmer, then looks away and wags his head.
Anil receives a message. “Don’t do it, Anil. It’s too dangerous.”
A gunshot explodes in the air and the ground shakes. Wearing gold sneakers and a black armored suit, Manos stands above Beth holding a smoking rifle. “What’s taking so long? Get the data back online!”
Her mouth duct-taped, Beth and three colleagues sit staring at laptops.
Manos shouts in her ear. “I ordered you to restore the servers!”
Beth ignores him. Manos leans over and rips the tape off her face. She screams in agony. “You fucking asshole.”
“Do you want to go to jail?”
“Go to hell…”
He kicks her in the back. “Have it your way. The transport planes are en route.”
Beth pleads with him. “Manos, please listen to me. In ten minutes, a gravity wave will hit the Earth. We can harness that current and activate the world’s first fusion reactor...”
“You’re talking that nonsense again?”
“Please, I beg you to let us go for ten minutes.”
“No way!”
“Please…just let us turn on the machine and then we’ll restore the servers.”
Manos sneers. “I don’t trust you.”
“I beg you to listen. Clean energy will solve our problems. We can end our addiction to fossil fuels and stop global warming. Don’t you see the stakes here?”
He rolls his eyes. “What’s in it for me, hippie?”
“You can live in a world without war.”
He laughs. “War is good for the planet.”