Starsong Chronicles: Exodus

by Clayborn, JJ

  “Yes, Professor Jackson, I presume?” James shook his hand heartily.

  “Yes, indeed,” the professor confirmed.

  “I hope that you weren’t waiting long,” James offered apologetically.

  “No, not at all. We’ve only been here about 20 minutes or so.” Professor Jackson was smiling and clearly excited. “We’re very happy to have the opportunity to examine your meteorite and test it for safety.” He gestured towards the vans behind him. “I have a dozen grad students with me, and we have several instruments for measuring everything from atmospheric conditions to radiation, electromagnetic radiation, soil salinity, Geiger counters, infrared cameras, and more.”

  James smiled, relieved. “It sounds like you came prepared for anything, which is good because I have absolutely no idea what we’re dealing with.” He shrugged apologetically.

  Professor Jackson nodded. “You’re right to call us in. We don’t want to overlook anything that might be important.”

  James nodded toward the vans. “Well, it’s a good thing that you brought along atmospheric tools.”

  “Oh? Why is that?” The professor’s curiosity piqued by this comment.

  James thought for a second before responding. “It’s probably better if I just show you.” He climbed into his SUV and motioned for them to follow him. He led the convoy down several miles of back roads, deep into the forest. After 20 minutes he pulled to a stop. James got out of the SUV and moved a barricade aside. He climbed back in the truck and drove it just past the barricade and pulled off the side of the road. He signaled for the other two vans to drive through. After the second one passed the barricade James replaced it and got back into his truck. Squeezing past the vans, James drove back to the front of the line.

  After a few minutes James pulled off the road into a grassy field. The white vans pulled into the field alongside him and Dr. Jackson got out. He met James at the back of the van. “I take it the meteorite impact is near here?”

  James turned and gestured across the road, pointing toward the valley. “The impact site is about a mile that way”. As he spoke the students got out of the van and quickly unloaded some gear and backpacks. The entourage set out toward the impact site with James in the lead. After about a half-mile the valley rounded to the northeast.

  After about a hundred meters the fog was visible along the valley floor with snake-like tendrils whipping about slowly. They reminded James of octopus arms, feeling around for something.

  The fog got noticeably thicker as they went. Dr. Jackson took note of that fact, asking as he looked around. “Is this precipitive climatology normal for this region?”

  “Is the fog normal?” James chuckled. “Not at all. In fact, it’s relegated completely and solely to this valley and seems to be emanating from the impact site. This is the same fog we spoke about yesterday.”

  Dr. Jackson stopped in his tracks and scanned the surrounding woods slowly. “That’s very peculiar.” He rubbed the top of his head in thought. “There’s no reason I can think of why a meteorite should be creating fog like this.”

  James was worried. The hairs on his skin stood on end and a wave of panic came over him. He breathed deeply to calm himself, and then explained to the professor. “That’s even more peculiar because it seems like it’s getting thicker and it’s definitely covering more ground.”

  Dr. Jackson immediately broke out a couple of the instruments. He waived them about the air around them here and there, taking multiple readings in different areas. He consulted them thoroughly before delivering his verdict. “There’s nothing harmful in the gas, so we should be safe…” he paused and checked a different instrument that James recognized as a Geiger counter. “The radiation level is slightly higher than normal, but still well within normal limits. If there weren’t at least a few extra rads I would be worried.”

  James relaxed a little and led the researchers further into the forest. After a few more minutes they arrived at the impact site. James immediately noted that the fog had thickened since this morning.

  Several of the students immediately set about performing various tasks. Some of them were setting up tents for sleeping; others were carefully collecting samples of everything they could see and putting them into small jars.

  When James noticed the tents he questioned the professor. “Are you sure that you guys are going to be okay out here? We still don’t know much about this meteorite.”

  “Yes, we’ll fine,” Professor Jackson reassured him. The professor walked over to the impact crater and shone his flashlight down inside. He stared into the gaping maw and was unable to see the bottom. He let out a low whistle. “This is quite a sizeable hole.”

  Several of the professor’s senior students secured some rigging around the edge of the crater. The professor and several students attached a harness and a head lamp. They affixed themselves to the rope and lowered themselves down into the hole.

  James watched from the crater rim as they disappeared from view, obscured by the fog. Time seemed to slow down for James. He felt like everything grew suddenly quiet. After a few moments, fear for the safety of the professor took over. His hair still stood on end any time he was near this place, only adding to his uneasiness. “Professor? Are you okay?” He shouted into the hole.

  After a long, tense moment there was a reply from below “Yes, we’re fine. Visibility is low because of the fog. We’re going to take some samples and come back up.”

  James sat around for a few more minutes, then got back into his truck and headed back to the office. There was a lot of paperwork for him to catch up on, and he needed to resupply. He was mentally exhausted. He didn’t really remember going home; he drove the rest of the way back to Memphis on autopilot.

  Monday, November 10th

  Chad Dickhaut sat at his desk in the Palomar Observatory manning his watch over the instruments. He didn’t mind the incessant clicking of the clock today. In fact, he barely noticed anything at all. He checked the clock absentmindedly, it was just past midnight.

  It was a week ago that the meteorite had landed. He had spent all of his waking hours in the lab poring over the data. Chad wanted to learn everything about it. He was trying to figure out its weight and composition, its speed and trajectory and where it might have come from. This asteroid was an enigma that stymied him at every turn. He was getting very frustrated with himself and the data. No matter how many times he looked at the data it didn’t make sense. As one example, asteroids have an average speed of 25 Kilometers per second, but this one was going almost a thousand times faster. Why? How? Something must have perturbed its orbit to send it flying toward Earth. And it must have slingshot around something very large – Jupiter maybe - to get up that kind of speed.

  Chad banged his head into the desk. It didn’t make sense. There weren’t any objects of sufficient mass in that part of the solar system for it to have slingshot around. Jupiter was still too small, but it was also on the opposite side of the solar system definitely ruling it out. But it must have slingshot around something. There was no other way to explain its unusual speed.

  Chad reviewed the data again, trying another problem. It didn’t burn up in the atmosphere as expected. It had to be made up of mostly metal – a metal that had a naturally high melting point. And it had to have been more metal than rock or ice. He ran the numbers a thousand times. It just didn’t make sense. An asteroid that size, fairly small, about 20 meters, even made of solid iron, should have burned up and broken apart in the atmosphere. There should have been an air blast that caused some surface damage as the meteorite broke apart into tiny fragments.

  According to the data this object had a density of around 6,000 kg/m3, somewhat less dense than Iron. He rubbed his forehead in frustration. It just didn’t make sense. At that size and speed, anything with a density less than 33,000 kg/m3 would have broken apart in the atmosphere. But anything that was dense enough to survive should have made an impact crater 20.4 kilometers across and 7.22 ki
lometers deep. This crater was nowhere near that size. Worse yet, because the sensors didn’t detect it until it was almost here the data record was very brief. This left a lot of room for errors and assumptions.

  Chad assumed that the asteroid approached Earth on a highly parabolic arc. It would have had to if it were slingshot around something, but he didn’t know the eccentricity of the orbit, so he was guessing. He was doing a lot of guessing, and it was obviously wrong because he couldn’t make sense of the data no matter how hard he tried. That frustrated him. Chad liked to be right about things. He liked to a good job, and he liked to know the answers. Right now, he felt like he was not meeting any of those goals.

  The day after the impact, Chad reconfigured one of the telescopes to scan the part of the sky that the meteorite came from. He set it up to look for objects travelling exceptionally fast. He was hoping to find more of these asteroids to get more data. It could be the only one of its kind, but he was hoping that it was dislodged from a LaGrange point somewhere and that it had several friends.

  Chad was so engrossed in analyzing the data that the alarm siren blaring caught him by surprise. He jumped at the sudden noise, flailing his arms about as he fell out of his chair. He looked up at the clock; 12:52 A.M. If it had been 20 minutes later it would have arrived exactly six days after the first one.

  Chad stood and punched up the controls on computer terminal and began reviewing the new data. This object was travelling at 22,000 kilometers per second, the same as the previous one…and according to its trajectory it was heading straight for the Earth. “Are you kidding me?!”

  Chad quintuple checked each piece of equipment and made sure that everything that could record data was actually recording data. He tapped into satellites and pointed them at the asteroid. His hands flew over the keyboard in a blur. He glanced up at the display. The red line coming in front of the asteroid began to track across the surface of the Earth.

  Something that was bothering him was finally answered as he looked at the other end of the trajectory. At the speed at which these objects were going, they would have achieved escape velocity. The sun’s gravity would not have been sufficient to hold them and they would have been flung out of the solar system.

  Except that wasn’t the case at all. These objects weren’t flung out of the solar system. They didn’t even slingshot around anything within the solar system. According to the computer, the object’s trajectory was nearly a straight line. Whatever this was it came from outside of the solar system. And it came directly toward Earth like a bullet. “That’s one hell of a coincidence,” Chad said to himself as he considered the implications of this new data.

  Chad watched some trepidation as the computer calculated the final impact point. The indicator stopped over a forest in North Carolina. His mind filled with a thousand new questions about how these asteroids were ejected from their home solar system, which system they came from, how long they had been travelling, and things of that nature.

  As he thought, an epiphany suddenly sprung forth. “I know why the data doesn’t work!” He suppressed the urge to jump for joy. “The data doesn’t work because I’ve been using every known material as a base for these asteroids, but they aren’t from here… they don’t have a known substance. Whatever these things are made out of, it is entirely alien...” As soon as he said it, the implications of that thought sunk in and he felt sick in the pit of his stomach.

  Chad glanced at the screen again, just in time to see the impact happen. It was 12:54 A.M. It had only been two minutes since the first detection of the asteroid, but it seemed like a thousand. He checked the instruments again and was relieved to hear the whirring and beeping that indicated that they were running optimally. He checked the display. According to the computer, the impact was in the Nantahala National Forest. He looked over the map, and then quickly pulled up a phone number.

  “Hello, this is Thomas,” an unfamiliar voice replied.

  Chad was surprised how cheerful the voice was for this early in the morning. “Is this the Greenville Forest Service office?”

  “Yes, this is Ranger Lester, what can I do for you?”

  Chad related the events of a few moments ago and explained about the meteorite to Thomas. The Ranger asked a lot of questions about what he was looking for, where it was, whether or not it was safe. Chad explained about the other impact in Mississippi and the crater that was left behind. “Honestly, I have absolutely no idea what you will when you get there, but based on what they found in Mississippi I feel confident saying that you’ll find something.”

  “It’s about 3:30 A.M. here. Luckily I’m usually getting up at this time anyway, so I’ll just pack up the truck and head out there right now and see what I can find.”

  “Thanks. Good luck!” Chad hung up and began analyzing the data that he had recorded about this latest strike. The odds of this happening like this twice in such a short span were astronomically high. Chad was naturally excited, intrigued, and apprehensive. He wasn’t really sure what he felt.

  * * *

  Wednesday, November 12th

  James Hutchinson strode into the ranger’s office. Edgar Tarbell sat behind his desk updating some paperwork. “’Morning, James,” Edgar said nonchalantly as James entered. Tarbell was typing a report on the computer and seemed to be engrossed in his work. He hadn’t even bothered looking up when James walked in.

  James sat at his desk across from him and began updating his reports as well. Every now and then James would glance at Edgar who would just smile without looking up, and continue working. James was still concerned about Edgar and the hallucinations he was having when he found him in the woods, but whatever was going on seemed to have gone away.

  After about ten minutes James was brought out his work by the sound of Edgar’s phone ringing. Edgar seemed not to notice it at first, but eventually he picked it up.

  “Hello?” Edgar said. “What meteorite?” Edgar seemed confused.

  The mention of a meteorite had certainly piqued James’ interest and he began to listen very closely. He was frustrated that he couldn’t hear the other side of the conversation.

  “Yes, this is Edgar Tarbell,” Edgar said into the phone.

  James waited impatiently for the conversation to continue. He was trying to piece together what he could.

  “Chad Dickhaut, with what observatory?” Edgar’s confusion persisted. “No, I don’t know anything about a meteorite.” Edgar paused. “Yes, I’m the only Edgar Tarbell who works for the Forest Service here.” He sounded outright agitated now. “No, I don’t remember any email, and I certainly don’t remember you calling me at two o’clock in the morning last week. I definitely would have remembered that.” Edgar hung up the phone and went back to typing.

  James sat quietly for a moment. Why would Chad deny knowing anything about the asteroid? He needed answers and decided to press the issue. “What was that all about, Edgar?”

  Edgar did not even look away from his report. “Nothing. Just a prank caller.” After a minute, Edgar stood up and grabbed his coat. “I’m going to grab a bite to eat, do you want to come?” He stood awkwardly beside the desk, waiting for James to reply.

  “Um, no, thanks. I’ve got a lot of reporting to catch up on.” James gestured to a pile of papers on his desk. “I’ll catch you next time.”

  “Suit yourself.” Edgar shrugged as he headed outside.

  James scratched his head as he watched Edgar leave. He got an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach. Once he was sure that Edgar was gone he got up and walked over to Edgar’s desk. He moved the mouse and the screen saver went away.

  Edgar had not been typing a report as James thought. His screen was set to a program that James had never seen before. A sea of random and unfamiliar characters filled the screen and were streaming past. A deep sense of foreboding came over James and he unplugged the computer from the wall. He didn’t know why he did it. He just knew that he didn’t like what he saw.

  We
dnesday, November 12th

  Chad was pacing the room lost in bewildered thought.

  “I’m not going crazy,” He said to himself. “I’m not going crazy. I’m not going crazy. I’m not going crazy.” He stopped and looked at his reflection on a glass window. “I’m not going crazy…..am I?”

  He shook his head and paced the room again, talking to himself. “There was a meteorite that hit last week. I called and spoken to Edgar Tarbell who said he would check it out.” Doubt filled his mind.

  “I did have that conversation, didn’t I? I wasn’t imagining it...” Chad stopped in his tracks. He pulled out his pocket notebook and frantically flipped through the pages until he saw his notes. He paced some more.

  “Of course I’m not going crazy. I have the data from the sensors that recorded the first impact. But, why would Edgar deny that he knew anything about it? That doesn’t make sense.”

  He was brought out of his stupor by the sound of a telephone. He practically tripped over himself answering it. The caller ID said that it was the Memphis Forest Service Station. “Hello?” Chad asked tentatively.

  “Who am I speaking with?” An unfamiliar voice emanated from the phone.

  “This is Dr. Chad Dickhaut of Palomar Observatory. Who’s calling?”

  “Dr. Dickhaut, my name is Ranger James Hutchinson of the US Forest Service. I believe that you were trying to speak to a colleague of mine, Ranger Edgar Tarbell.”

  “Yes, that’s correct,” Chad confirmed.

  There was an awkward pause and James sighed, worried about what Chad might tell him. “Would you mind telling me what that was all about?”

  “Sure…” Chad paused awkwardly for a moment as he tried to gather his thoughts. “Okay, it all started exactly a week ago. I happened to come across a highly unusual meteorite by accident during my scans of the sky for the NEAT program.”