CLOSE PROXIMITY

by Marshall Huffman

  “Doctor Montgomery,” CNN is on line two.

  “Alright,” Abby said and picked up the phone.

  This was the sixth call she had received since she had arrived at her office less than two hours ago. Already the Today Show, CBS, NBC, and the Discovery Channel had talked with her about doing an interview along with the local stations.

  “Doctor Montgomery. Bill Sims from CNN, how are you today?” the smooth voice asked.

  “Very busy, as you may imagine.”

  “Yes, I should think so. Doctor I’ll get right to the point. CNN would like to interview you about your discovery. People have a lot of questions and we would like to have the opportunity to talk about that while on the air.”

  “Mr. Sims, I would love to do whatever I can but I am simply swamped at the moment. I have a meeting with the JPL this afternoon and a myriad of other obligations. I just don’t see how I will have the time to accommodate everyone,” she told him.

  “Doctor, we will come to you and hold the interview right on campus. It would be good publicity for both the program you head up and the University,” he told her.

  “I’ll tell you what. Let me get this JPL meeting out of the way and I’ll be more than happy to try to find the time to sit down with your people.”

  “Fair enough,” he said and gave her his direct line and cell phone number.

  When she hung up James came over and stood beside her.

  “So. CNN as well?”

  “Yes. You know, I guess I didn’t think about this part. I mean I knew the JPL would be a bit of a time consumption but I didn’t realize how many reporters would crawl out from under the rocks.”

  “Well you’re famous now. People want to know who Doctor Abigail Montgomery is,” he said.

  “But I’m the same person I was before,” she protested.

  “No. That’s not quite true. You may think you are but you have already started to change some,” James said, looking her in the eye.

  She frowned and cocked her head to one side.

  “What are you saying really James.”

  “Nothing. It’s no big deal.”

  “No. It is a big deal. What did you mean by that exactly?” Abby insisted placing her hand on his arm, “Come on spill it. You never say anything you don’t mean. Just put it out on the table and we can talk about it.”

  “Abby, you have started to change in small ways. As time goes on I honestly think you will change a great deal more than you realize.”

  “James. I just don’t see that happening.”

  “Of course not. You can’t. You only see things from your perspective. It’s the rest of us that see the changes.”

  “Rest of whom?”

  “All of us on the team,” James said.

  “Give me an example,” she insisted.

  “Alright. When you were talking to NBC and ABC you said not once but three times that you had discovered the body after returning from Chili.”

  “And?”

  “You, is the key word. Ruth and I both told you about what we had seen. You weren’t even here when I logged the first occurrence. Your team, which you are head of, actually found the object. We brought it to your attention but you didn’t mention that with either of them,” James replied.

  She stood there, her mouth closed tight, jaws clenched.

  “I see. So you’re saying I’m forgetting how this all came about. Right?”

  “I’m just saying that this has become all about Doctor Abigail Montgomery not the team effort.”

  She walked over to her desk and sat down. She closed her eyes and put her head back. Something she often did when struggling with a problem. She finally stood up, walked over to James and put her arms around him and gave him a big hug.

  “You’re right. James I’m sorry I was such a blockhead. It never even entered my mind that I was making this all about me. I am ashamed to admit I got caught up in the moment and wasn’t really thinking about how you all felt. Do the others feel the same way?” Abby asked.

  “Pretty much. Lewis hasn’t said anything but the rest have talked about it.”

  “Geez. I need to apologize to all of you. Thank you for telling me James,” she said and gave him another hug.

  “Sorry to dump it on you.”

  “You did the right thing,” Abby assured him, “I guess it’s the old can’s see the forest for the trees..

  **

  Twelve people were seated around a large conference table. Pitchers of ice water, pads of paper and pens were placed in front of the people present. Abby was the only one standing. Each person had a name plaque in front of him or her to help Abby identify the person. She seemed totally cool and collected but inside she was a bundle of raw nerves.

  Along with the JPL director, was the deputy director, several associate directors, the director of NASA, and a few department heads as well. Sitting in the very back of the group was the Secretary of Navy.

  She smiled at them and began her presentation.

  “My team at Arizona State University has put together a booklet that will help you to understand what all the fuss is about,” she said and smiled quickly.

  A couple of people chuckled, a few smiled. Lance Weldon sat unsmiling, just looking at her. After she had passed the booklets out, she began again.

  “I know you want to jump ahead and that’s fine but I think if you just listen to the overview you will have a better understanding of what is in front of you.”

  “We are all pretty bright here. I think we can understand what’s in this,” Lance said holding up the booklet.

  “Now nice. Well then I guess, my work is finished here. You can just read it and call me if you have any questions,” Abby said, and started putting her things in her briefcase. She closed it, snapped the locks and turned to leave.

  “Doctor Montgomery.”

  “Yes,” she said and turned back.

  “I’m not quite as smart of some of the people here I guess. I doubt I can make heads or tails about what’s in this book. If you don’t mind, why don’t you go ahead for the ones who don’t know quite so much? The others can leave,” the Secretary of Navy said smiling at her.

  She sat her briefcase down and looked at him for a second.

  “I would be more than happy to do that. Those of you who already know it all or can just assimilate it from the booklet, please feel free to leave if I start to bore you,” she said and smiled quickly.

  Weldon’s face was bright red. The Secretary of Navy had just taken the wind out of his sails. There was absolutely nothing he could do except sit there and brood.

  She spent the next two hours going over the materials, the tests and confirmation procedures. Everything was in the booklet in chronological order as she went through each item. Even Weldon realized that they had done a creditable job of presenting the subject. Some of his hostility was starting to drain away as he realized the Doctor Abigail Montgomery was at an intellectual level above most of the people he dealt with.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  “Excellent job,” the Secretary of Navy said, coming up and extending his hand to Abby.

  “Thank you. For both things,” she replied.

  “Oh that was nothing. Besides I really wouldn’t have understood much if I had to rely solely on comprehending what was in this booklet,” he said holding it up.

  “Well, thank you anyway.”

  “Tell me. Would you have really walked out?” he asked.

  “Well sir…”

  “Dan.”

  “You’re sure?”

  “Yes. Dan Flower.”

  “Okay Dan. Abby or Abigail. Either gets my attention.”

  “So, would you have actually left?”

  “Actually, I would have. Dan, I won’t be treated with disrespect by anyone. I’ve worked too hard to get where I am to have someone dismiss me like I mean nothing.”

  “I have to say, I certainly admire your gumption. Not many people would have walked out on a
room full of people like the group that was assembled here. Well played,” he said.

  “Thank you.”

  “What is still nagging at me is what all of this means. I understand there is still more to come but how in the world did such a huge asteroid avoid detection for so long? Why are we just finding it now?”

  “I think there are three answers to that question and each is dependent on the other to fully understand what happened. First, no one was looking for something this large so close to our own solar system. We are fixated on deep space, not inner space. Second, its position was such that it was hidden for the most part by Neptune, Jupiter, and Saturn. If anyone did see it they probably misunderstood what it really was. Third, my team was looking for something. We were trying to solve the puzzle of the tenth planet and just happened to be looking at the right place when it was visible.”

  “According to your team’s calculations, it will miss the earth, but come darn close.”

  “That’s what we project.”

  “Do you think others will come to the same conclusion?”

  “All I can say is that you shouldn’t bet on it. Some will have it missing the earth by three or four times more than we project. Some will have it smashing into Earth and ending the world. I would say, we need to be prepared for all kinds of wild conjecture,” Abby told him.

  “I know this is kind of sudden but if the President wanted further clarification, would you be willing to accommodate further questions?”

  “Oh. Well, yes. I guess I could do that.”

  “Good. Again, thank you for the briefing. It certainly gives one something to think about.”

  **

  Abby had just about reached her rental car when Lance Weldon came hurrying up.

  “Doctor Montgomery. I’m glad I caught you. I got held up and wanted to thank you for your presentation. It was masterfully done. Very impressive. You can’t imagine how many people come in and just blather,” he said.

  “Thank Mr. Weldon. That’s high praise coming from you.”

  “Look doctor, I apologize for being antagonistic. I think I let my hurt feelings get in the way of professionalism. When I felt like you were taking a shot at the JPL, I got pretty defensive. I take a lot of pride in what we do here and it just stung,” he said.

  “I can certainly accept that. No one likes to have their work trivialized,” Abby replied.

  “Could we have a truce? A sort of start over? I know we need together. I will make sure that the you and your team get full credit. I know we dropped the ball with Russia and Spain but it won’t happen again, I promise,” he told her.

  “I think that would be a very good idea. I see no reason why we can’t work together on this. My feeling is that this may be bigger than both of us put together. This is going to cause a lot of apprehension all around the globe and having us at each other’s throats will only further complicate the problem.”

  “I agree. Looking at the data, I’m still kind of reeling.”

  “As am I,” Abby replied.

  “Obviously we both have a lot of work to do,” he said.

  They shook hands before departing.

  **

  “So, how did it go?” James asked when Abby returned.

  “Tense at first but it all worked out in the end.”

  “Really?”

  “Honestly. The JPL director managed to swallow his pride and apologize. We agreed to a truce and to work together.”

  “Yikes. I didn’t see that coming. That is a huge difference. So they are going to share what they find with us?” James asked.

  “That’s what he indicated. As a matter of fact, the Secretary of Navy was there as well. He even hinted that the President may want to be briefed on this at some point,” Abby said.

  “No way,” James said putting his hands up to his temple, “That’s super cool.”

  “It’s not certain, I was just asked if we would,” Abby said, making sure she used ‘we’ not ‘I’.

  “Well we have been doing our own tracking and calculating. Lewis and Brian have one set of projections and Andy has another. I’m not as strong in math as they are so I really don’t know who, or if anyone is right,” James said to Abby.

  “When they come in tonight we can all go over it together. Kind of brainstorm. You order the pizza, I’ll pay for them. Fair enough?”

  “That’s what I call a heck of a deal.”

  James went off on some errands and Abby sat down at her desk and looked at the pile of pink ‘while you were gone’ slips. She shuffled through them. The one that caught her eye immediately was from 60 Minutes. What in the world would they want with her? Nothing had really been released yet and wouldn’t be until Weldon’s group had a chance to study the data. Then, together they would make a formal statement.

  It seemed to her that they were all jumping the gun a little. Her phone rang and it startled her out of her trance. She reached over and answered it.

  “Hello Doctor Montgomery. I’m Kathleen Globe from 60 Minutes. I’m calling to ask if you might be available to tape a segment for our show.”

  “I don’t know what to say. I mean, why would you want to talk to me at this point. No real data has been released yet. Calculations and testing are still ongoing. It seems a little premature.”

  “Doctor, the news moves as the speed of light. In this business if you snooze, you lose. I’m sure you have had a half dozen calls asking you to be on various programs. We are no different. Well, somewhat different. We have a larger audience than most of them,” Kathleen replied.

  “More like a dozen.”

  “That’s what I mean. Look, let me send someone out to talk to you. If you are comfortable with what they have to say then we can go from there. The thing is, we can’t wait too long or this may blow over,” she warned Abby.

  “Alright. Send someone to talk to us. I’ll transfer you to my secretary and she can work out the time.”

  “Excellent. Thank you and have a good day,” Kathleen said.

  “Same to you,” Abby replied.

  Why had she even agreed to such a thing? She hardly had time to go to the bathroom let alone spend time with some reporter. She looked at her watch. Speaking of talking to reporters, it was time to meet with the crew from CNN. She was hesitant because she did not have a very high opinion of them. She knew their reputation for beating a story to death. They would scour the country for what the term ‘experts’ and before long the entire importance of the discovery would begin to be nothing more than a circus event.

  She was setting while they put make-up on her when the co-host came over and introduced themselves.

  “A pleasure to meet you,” she told them.

  “Have you been on television before?” Sally Raze asked.

  “Local television.”

  “I meant on a national level,” she replied.

  “Why? Does the camera know if it is local or national?” she asked.

  “No, I suppose not. We will see you on the set.”

  “Don’t worry about her. She is just a tad big headed,” the co-host, James Barrymore said and winked.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  President Thomas Strong was a charismatic fifty-seven year old who had been swept into the White House by a landslide victory. He was the first middle of the road president who had been able to win praises from both sides of the Senate and House of Representatives.

  While his briefings were more laid back than his predecessor, it certainly didn’t mean you could show up unprepared. One of the things that would anger him the quickest was shoddy work. He felt a deep obligation to answer to the people who had put him in office and having a dysfunctional government was not acceptable.

  “We need to decide if we want to hold the exercise off the coast of the Ryukyu Islands with Taiwan or scrap them,” the Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff said.

  “And what is your recommendation?”

  “Well sir, North Korea is acting up again. It’s pret
ty much the same old saber rattling we hear all the time. They aren’t going to do anything except expound rhetoric.”

  “So you are saying we should go ahead?” the President said.

  “Yes sir. I see no reason to cancel this exercise,” he said.

  “Does anyone disagree?” he asked, looking around the table.

  No one spoke up.

  “Alright. I will give you my answer by 5 o’clock. Now Dan, why don’t you fill us in on the JPL meeting you attended yesterday.

  Dan spent the next forty minutes briefing them on what he had learned. He could see every reaction from those seated around him. It ranged from horror to indifference and everything in between. The President was listening intently and he would jot down something every once in a while. When he had finished he sat back down.

  “You are talking about an asteroid as large as a small planet correct?”

  “Yes sir. It’s called a planetoid.”

  “Yes, I got that. And no one ever discovered it before until this Doctor Montgomery stumbled upon it?”

  “Correct sir.”

  “How is that possible? I mean we are talking about a pretty big object heading toward the Earth,” the President said.

  “I asked Doctor Montgomery the same thing. She said it was; one, not being looked for. Two, the location of it made it very difficult to see. And three, they found it because they were doing work on the tenth planet theory.”

  “We have a tenth planet? I didn’t realize that.”

  “Well it’s just a theory they were trying to prove or disprove.”

  “Okay, just looking at what you said, at the speed it’s traveling, which I get at a little over a million miles a day, and from where they are reporting it currently, it should be pretty darn near us in 238 days. Around eight months from now.”

  “Yes sir. That was the latest projection I received.”

  “How do we know it is going to miss earth?” the President wanted to know.

  “Well sir, we don’t for a certainty but initial calculations indicate that it will miss Earth by a few thousand miles.”