America One - The Launch

by T I WADE

  “Roger that,” replied Ryan. “We are under orders from Washington that we do not, I say again, we do not get involved with these asteroids. Do not fire on them until I know that we have no other choice and only I will give the order to engage. Please confirm, Mr. Jones, Mr. Noble.”

  “Shall we keep our computers locked onto them?” VIN asked from America One.

  “Affirmative, keep your locks and your weapons powered up, just in case we have to do something. We are down to hours now and we can only wait and see.”

  There wasn’t much else to do and slowly everybody who was allowed in ground control came in to see the show. Allen Saunders and Bill Withers joined Ryan and just sat there with him drinking coffee. The rest of the astronauts slowly filed in and grabbed coffee. Every work station and every computer was now manned in ground control. There wasn’t much they could do, but several members of Igor’s team were studying computer readouts as the asteroids approached.

  “DX2014A has halted its curve northwards, currently at 152,000 miles,” stated Igor. “Its impact window is 300 miles off shore and middle of window, 50 miles south of Seattle. I think the fourth asteroid is the reason. DX2014D is still curving south. They are currently 432 miles apart and still approaching each other’s trajectory. Speed difference is 181 miles an hour and climbing. The window for DX2014D has changed to 450 miles directly offshore of San Diego. Computers show that they will be at their closest point in one hour fifty-five minutes, approximately 30 miles from each other. DX2014D will pass by, and we think could pull the smaller asteroid towards its trajectory.”

  “Bill, Allen, what can these nukes do?” Ryan asked.

  “These are the rockets I had been working on for three years,” replied Bill. “Before I left NASA we had tested small dummy warheads atop several stored NASA rockets. Three years ago, the former president signed off on a project to be able to get a nuke into space for this exact purpose. We completed our tests using quarter-size modified Titan III-copied rocket columns to carry a 1,000-pound, one-megaton warhead into space. We achieved three successful dummy warhead powered deliveries 300 miles into space before the third-stage hydrogen fuel motors ran out of rear-end gas. Six of these new rockets were built and then transferred to Vandenberg Air Force Base three months before I was removed from NASA, and the air force took them over. I didn’t hear much more, and now see that they have warheads fitted, as we see on the screen. The third stage motors will cut out at 300 miles and their directional systems will laser point them onto their targets. Any more information, I can’t tell you. It was up to the USAF to complete the project.”

  “Allen?” Ryan asked.

  “Not my department,” he replied. “I had heard that warheads had been placed on new anti-asteroid rockets, and that the air force was working with NASA, but that’s all I can add.”

  Bill, what accuracy do these new rockets have at 100,000 miles?” Ryan asked.

  “Well, they will certainly have the best targeting systems the air force can offer aboard them. We added the rear power systems and four side thrusters which have fuel for twenty minutes of thrust between them. It is up to the missile controller how he uses up his twenty minutes of side thrusters to stay on target. The first and second stages fall away and disintegrate in the upper atmosphere, the third stage doesn’t. This stage has the necessary guiding computers, power systems and oxygen tanks for the thrusters. The air force wanted liquid oxygen and not liquid hydrogen thrusters. The missile has enough velocity at 300 miles; 42,000 miles an hour to propel it into space forever and enough liquid oxygen fuel for twenty minutes of maneuvering throughout its journey. It should be pretty accurate.” As he said that two more blips appeared on the screen above California. “Backups in case the first two miss,” Bill suggested.

  They watched for several minutes while the second two anti-asteroid missiles headed into outer space. There wasn’t much anybody could do.

  Thirty minutes later Ryan’s ground control gave everybody the latest report.

  “DX2014A is increasing in speed, now at 12,700 miles an hour, altitude 134,000 miles,” stated Igor. “DX2014D has also increased approach speed to 12,850 miles an hour, altitude 135,500 miles. Distance between them is still 169 miles. They will be at their closest point in one hour five minutes. Estimated time of the first nukes hitting target is one hour three minutes.”

  “Bill, Allen, could they get lucky? Could they hit two birds with one stone?” Ryan asked.

  “Yes, a positive scenario,” replied Allen.

  “I agree,” added Bill, “but the asteroids will still be above 100,000 miles, and any explosion on the first one, could make the second deviate off its course, which could make the second nukes miss. I don’t know how much control the target coordinator has to redirect, but he might be out of fuel, or might have to make the second nuke a near blast. I think the added altitude was a good judgment call.”

  Meanwhile the television stations had uninterrupted news programs running. This was exciting. “Mankind’s first retaliation against destroyers from outer space,” one announcer dramatically announced.

  “Better than watching Star Wars,” added another.

  The government and NASA had gone silent after realizing that Hal McNealy had made a fool of them by proclaiming that there were not two asteroids. Footage on one channel had been found about these special rockets, and clips were being shown with then Administrator of NASA, Bill Withers, and members of the air force observing tests of the new rockets being launched into space from Cape Canaveral twelve months earlier. Since this footage had never been seen by the public before, Ryan was sure that his friend, the former president, had something to do with releasing the clips of these tests to the media.

  None of the stations were prompting people to leave low-lying areas anymore. A government spokesperson announced that Washington, NSA, and the Pentagon had decided that their nukes would take care of business.

  They did hit head on with DX2014A one hour later. Unfortunately the first two nukes went into DX2014A together and within seconds of each other, a hundred yards apart. DX2014D, now only thirty miles further out and right behind the massive explosions, immediately broke into two from the small shock blast emitted from the first two nukes.

  “It looks like we have two meteors incoming, 119,000 miles out, one is heading further south, and the other now straight down towards the Pacific,” reported Jonesy from SB III. “The two meteors are drifting apart and still incoming. They have just passed on each side of the first explosion.”

  “Mr. Jones is correct,” added Igor. “The one piece heading south looks about the same size as DX2014A used to be. The second piece that is heading towards the Pacific and angling south towards the equator is, I believe, the larger piece. The second nukes are still 30 minutes out, and the computers are showing that unless somebody changes the course of both missiles, they are going to miss the larger meteor by about 400 miles.”

  “Where is the other one heading?” Ryan asked.

  “Trajectories from all our computers show that it will miss earth by a few thousand miles…..hold on….this meteor has just broken up into three pieces. I’m sure there are smaller pieces we can’t follow….now it shows seven pieces, all heading slightly apart, and all will miss earth. Their speeds are now 16,000 miles an hour.”

  “Where will America One and the rest of our craft be when they get into range?” asked Ryan now extremely worried.

  “All our craft are now in the direct path of these meteors….now we are showing eleven pieces we can track, and one missile is turning towards the meteor that has just broken apart…..now it seems to be turning back to the more northerly piece. They are still turning….impact times are 22 and 25 minutes.”

  They can’t have much more fuel left,” suggested Bill. “Igor, is the larger rock still in one piece?”

  “Affirmative,” replied Igor “northerly meteor now 113,000 miles and increasing speed to 17,000 miles an hour.

  “Mr. Jon
es, Mr. Noble, can you get a fix on these rocks coming towards you.

  “Negative,” VIN replied.

  “We could at maybe 25,000 miles out, but no further,” added Jonesy. “Some of these rocks are looking pretty small to get an accurate fix on them.”

  “Then do your best and once these smaller rocks get to a certain point where they can’t hit earth, then we must take action if you are in danger,” replied Ryan.

  For another fifteen minutes, they could only look at the rocks showing up on the screen. Many at ground control in Nevada were worried about the smaller particles that couldn’t be picked up. Earth was safe from these smaller rocks, but the satellites weren’t. Any incoming rock bigger than a marble and traveling at these faster speeds could inflict damage on the sides of America One, or any of the other craft up there.

  “SB III to Ground Control, we had this same scenario when we collected the diamonds off DX2014,” said Jonesy. “All craft should move with the flow of the incoming rocks. If we all fly in the same direction as the rocks, then any damage would be minimal, and we could blast the more dangerous ones with the lasers. I recommend that everybody turn in the same direction the rocks are going.”

  “Great idea, Mr. Jones,” applauded Ryan. “You guys can thrust yourselves in a backwards movement, with your laser facing the incoming meteors. Mr. Noble, am I right that Ivan, all the cylinders, the still-loaded freighters and one of the Astermine Craft are all connected to America One?”

  “That is correct, ground control. Suzi will go back into the spacecraft to get her fired up. The computers are showing us the incoming trajectory and I’m sure the more powerful side thrusters you added onto the spacecraft will get America One and the Beer Can moving. We still have a couple of hours, and we have half-full tanks on the spacecraft.”

  “Get her moving, Mr. Noble, the spacewalkers can refuel her from cylinders in Ivan if necessary, and keep your laser pointing backwards, you might have to do some rock shooting. Out. Astermine I, where are you?”

  “About three hours from America One; we will be there before the meteors get close. I will change our course to tie in with the mother ship’s movements. Our two cargoes are still snug and secure. Over.”

  “Position yourself within one mile of America One as soon as you can,” ordered Ryan. “You should have half tanks of fuel; do the beacons on the freighters still have power?”

  “Affirmative,” was the reply.

  “Activate the European freighter’s beacon once you are in formation with America One. Release your two cargoes with the beacon operational and connect up to the opposite docking port to Astermine II to help propel the craft. Use all of your fuel to get America One moving, if necessary. We have tons of cylinders up there and crew able to refuel you. These rocks are still increasing in speed and we need all the horsepower we can muster.”

  Roger that, we are already on full thrust and can cut our time down by thirty minutes,” was the reply.

  Ryan noticed the television screens again. On all three channels uniformed military personnel were congratulating each other on the success of the missile strike. Joe Bishop, Tom Ward and General Mortimer with Hal McNealy could be seen mingling with the dozen or so people congratulating themselves. Then the phone rang wherever they were and the president’s voice could be heard congratulating Hal McNealy who proudly smiled, receiving the congratulations.”

  “He did absolutely nothing to help the project. He wasn’t even part of the three-year program,” mumbled Bill Withers. Then Hal McNealy was interviewed.

  “A job well done, Hal?” asked a voice from beside the camera.

  “Yes, a combined effort from all the staff here. The problem isn’t over yet, but the major dangers to Earth are. We knew the fourth asteroid, the larger rock was coming towards us, but NASA didn’t want to panic the West Coast population and attempt a massive move inland. The rock has broken into two and the second set of one-megaton nuclear warheads will destroy whatever is left. I wish I was on the West Coast to watch the dazzling fireworks in a few hours. Thanks to NASA, and to my project of asteroid-defeating nuclear rockets that were designed, built and tested over the last forty months for such a threat to our nation, we have defeated the enemy.”

  “What happens if they don’t destroy the two remaining parts?” the interviewer asked.

  “Then we have a third set of nuclear rockets, which still have time to launch and finish the job off. I made sure that NASA’s project was large enough to have backups.”

  “Then they had better launch them,” suggested Bill Withers watching the screen. “Their safety launch window is now down to ten minutes.”

  “Fifteen minutes to nuke impact on the first one, plus two added minutes for the second one,” stated Igor.

  “I bet they won’t launch before impact,” commented Allen Saunders.

  “Of course not,” Bill replied. “McNealy doesn’t know what he is talking about; he just enjoys the limelight. I hope for his sake he is right. Igor, how are the nukes doing for accuracy?”

  “Not good,” Igor replied. “The closest missile has stopped curving towards its target, and is flying straight. Our computers show that it might miss, by a mile or more. The second missile stopped its directional change over a minute ago–it could miss its target by ten to twelve miles.”

  “Hopefully the controllers detonate them as close to the rocks as possible, continued Bill. “They could turn the rocks into useless shrapnel like what happened from the shock wave on the first set.”

  Nobody said anything again, they watched as important ads ran on all three television stations.

  “Three minutes to first impact,” stated Igor.

  Ryan’s phone rang. It was the former president. He listened, and then spoke. “Thank you for getting the warnings on air, sir. It seems they were countermanded by the powers in Washington currently congratulating themselves…….no, we believe both missiles will miss……….yes, there could still be a tsunami if the missiles miss……yes, they have backups, but at low level, under 50,000 miles, they passed that launch window a couple of minutes ago and could cause havoc in all our orbit altitudes…………...If the rocks are not totally obliterated……………..yes, one or two rocks could still plough into the ocean, but I don’t think the wave size could be much bigger than what the West Coast received from the earthquake in Japan a few years ago. Yes, I believe a warning should still go out about ‘possible tsunamis’, not ‘definite tsunamis’. Thank you, I will call you if I need help, I think the powers will be too busy cleaning up to worry about us for a while, plus I still have twenty-one days….yes that is seven more flights out of the twenty I still want. Yes, there is still room for you and your family; the invitation remains open.”

  “So, the former president is coming with us?” asked Bill.

  “I think he is interested,” replied Ryan, “but I don’t think he will actually come. The outcome of this asteroid could be nothing, or it will cause larger upheavals across the world than the tsunami will.”

  “The first nuke has missed its target,” stated Igor. “Nor is there an explosion….five seconds behind target impact…..ten seconds….they have exploded the nuke….. Our computers show that it was 40 miles off course and 60 miles from target when it exploded…..The rock hasn’t changed direction, but is speeding up again.” There was total silence as the television screens still showed happy people somewhere in Washington. Hal McNealy was right in the middle of the crowd when somebody came up and whispered in his ear. He scowled, looked at General Mortimer, and both men quickly left the viewing area. All the televisions went back to ads.

  “The second nuke has also missed. Its impact time passed ten seconds ago……..we have a detonation 100 miles from the target. I doubt the blast will do anything.”

  Three minutes later the third set of nukes was launched and heading in different directions towards their targets less than 90,000 miles above earth. It would take them an hour to reach their incoming targ
ets now traveling at 25,000 miles an hour.

  Bill Withers looked at the two nukes heading out and his face went white, while the televisions went back to their usual soaps.

  It took another thirty minutes before the population on the West Coast was again warned about possible tsunamis; the people were advised to leave beaches and areas near beaches and proceed to locations at least ten feet above sea level. Suddenly the world’s attention reverted back from Reality TV to real television. Nobody knew who was putting out these warnings, until Tom Ward was informed that the FBI had been put on alert and were telling all the police systems and television stations along the whole west coast to order people along the low-lying areas to get to higher ground as a precaution.

  Tom Ward told Joe Bishop, who angrily got on the phone to his counterpart in the FBI in Los Angeles. Within seconds he started shouting into the phone that all hell would break lose once Washington heard about these warnings. He directed his counterpart to tell him where the warnings were coming from as heads were going to roll. Once he heard the name of the person, he hung up and called the President of the United States.

  An hour and ten minutes later the fifth nuke exploded against the side of its target at 61,000 miles. This was the most northerly rock and closest to Vandenberg Air Force Base. The second rock was now 5,000 miles away and six minutes later the second nuke glanced off the meteor at 47,000 miles above earth. Ground control in Nevada was on their fifth carafe of coffee.

  “The first explosion looks good,” stated Igor. “I think that the rock disintegrated. There will be an interesting meteor shower with San Francisco at its center. We are showing that the southern rock has split up like DX2014A. There was no explosion; something must have gone wrong with the nuke. We have hundreds of pieces spreading out from the impact.”

  “The disintegration helps the population on earth, but it is sure going to mess things up in space,” stated Bill angrily. “The first explosion is going to really do some damage at 61,000 miles. Imagine a million little bees, a massive swarm of them still heading out from a center point at 20,000 miles an hour, very few now in the direction they were traveling. Sure, those little bees are going to burn up in the atmosphere, but they are not going to burn up at altitudes over 60 miles. NASA and the Air Force have just unleashed a very angry swarm of bees, and my guys with me at NASA know that. You had better phone your friend Ryan, and tell him the situation before your cell phone goes dead. It looks like we could be on land lines from now on.