“I apologize for that oversight. When they couldn’t reach you they should have informed me,” Dan replied.
“No harm. It appears I will live after all. Mr. Secretary…”
“Dan. Dan Fowler.”
“Abigail or Abby. Actually most of the people around here call me Abby,” she told him.
“Alright Abby. I remember from our previous meeting. Go ahead, sorry to interrupt.”
“Oh, I was just saying I think I’ll live.”
“That’s excellent. I’m sure the President would not think too highly of me if I had caused you to expire. It is not the kind of thing that looks good on one’s resume,” he said.
“I suppose not,” Abby laughed, “So Dan, what brings you from Washington all the way to Arizona?”
“I just happened to be in the neighborhood and thought I would stop in?” he said, keeping a straight face.
“You know Dan. You are spoiling my perception of what military people are supposed to be like. I though you guys walked around frowning and lacked any sense of humor,” she said smiling.
“Gosh. I guess I had better get with the program,” he said and frowned deeply.
“Nope, isn’t working,” Abby laughed again.
“Okay, the truth is, I’m just not the frowning, everything is deadly serious type. I happen to think life is pretty darn good,” he said.
Abby sensed she was seeing the real Dan Fowler and that he wasn’t just putting on a show for her. She glanced at his hands but all he had on was a graduation ring of some type. Why had she done that? It was like she was checking him out. Well, why not? He was certainly attractive, fit, had a sense of humor and unattached as far as she could tell. She flushed. Get a grip girl, she thought to herself.
“Why I am really here,” Dan was saying, “Is because the President thinks it is very important to know what is going on with the meteor.”
“Planetoid. An asteroid of other body doesn’t become a meteor until it enters the Earth’s atmosphere.”
“So the thing in Russia was an asteroid first until it streaked across the sky and landed?”
“Yep.”
“Oookkkay,” he said dragging it out.
“Don’t worry about it. A lot of people don’t realize that,” Abby assured him.
“So if the Russian asteroid had missed the Earth it would still be an asteroid and not a meteor.”
“Exactly.”
“And you think the military is weird,” he said smiling.
“Touché,” Abby said returning the smile, “So what is it exactly the President wants to know?”
“The best way I can put it is, he wants to make sure the human race isn’t wiped out on his watch. He is concerned about the panic that this could cause as the met…asteroid or planetoid gets closer. We have already started to see a few doomsday forecasts. He doesn’t want to cover up anything that is the truth but he doesn’t want a bunch of half-truths and just plain false information causing panic,” Dan told her.
“I can certainly understand that. It doesn’t take long for the conspiracy nuts to start running off at the mouth,” Abby agreed.
“So his concern is what does this mean to Earth? How close is it going to come and does anyone know what the repercussions will really be?”
“Dan, the truth is, a lot of people, brilliant people, are working on this exact issue. Honestly, that is precisely what I was working on when you snuck in her and tried to give me a heart attack,” she said not showing any emotion.
Dan just stood there looking back at her, saying nothing.
Finally she broke, “Okay Mr. Cool. You win,” she said smiling and he did the same.
“Anyway. My team has worked on this non-stop. We have looked at this from every possible angle and scenario. Brian’s calculations appear, to me at least, to be dead on,” she told him.
“Brian?”
“Sorry. Brian Ashton. The smartest mathematician I have ever had as a graduate student. He is actually more advanced than anyone on our faculty. I have a hard time following him at times. I’m absolutely convinced he will be in a league of his own.”
“Whoa. That is some praise coming from someone like you. I tried to read one of your books and was lost after the title,” Dan kidded.
“Brian is astonishing.”
“So what do his calculations indicate?” Dan asked.
“Something different than what others will say I can assure you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
“We have to tell the President,” Weldon said.
“I don’t think we should say anything to anyone just yet. I mean, think of the problems this could cause if it isn’t accurate.”
“Tony that is your job. You get paid to make sure this information is accurate. What do you think I should do? Gee Mr. President, our top mathematician, whom we pay 175,000 dollars a year to make these calculations, thinks it may be right but isn’t totally sure. Somehow I don’t see that going over too well with the President,” Weldon said.
“Come on Dan. This isn’t like figuring out the trajectory of a missile. Other planets don’t have an effect on them. We can change course if we miscalculate a small amount. We can’t do the same thing with KA5,” Tony replied.
“Then all I can say is get it right. I talked to Montgomery and they have a different trajectory plotted than what you have come up with. I’m not saying they are right, I’m just saying that it is different.”
“How different?”
“Oh not much, maybe 200,000 miles.”
“What? No way. That is total bull. They are saying it will miss the Earth by 200,000 miles?”
“Something like that,” Weldon replied.
“They are flat wrong. It won’t be nearly that far away. The damn thing is just going to miss us. It is going to scare the crap out of everyone. You know our projection. 12,000 miles plus or minus 1,000 miles,” Tony said, holding up his calculations.
“Tony, I am not saying you are wrong. I’m not saying they are right. What I am saying is we have to make damn sure what we tell the President is accurate and can be backed up. I know the man. He doesn’t take guesses for answers. You are in the hot seat on this so I am suggesting that you make darn sure you haven’t overlooked a single thing. Got it?” Weldon said.
“200,000 miles. No way in hell are we that far off. I sure would like to know how they arrived at that theory.”
“You want me to set up a meeting? I can call and tell them that we would like to go over their calculations with them.”
“Have any other projections been presented?”
“Not to my knowledge but I’m sure we will get a flurry of them in the next day or so.”
“I’ll go over everything one more time but I doubt it will change much, certainly not by 200,000 miles.”
“I think that is a wise decision,” Weldon agreed.
**
THE EVENING NEWS WITH ALLEN SMALL –
Have you been to the store lately to try to buy a telescope? You can’t find one anywhere. I went to four different stores and was told that they were sold out. I even went to a high end store that specialized in telescopes. Everything from their most basic models to the top of the line are totally sold out.
Not to be deterred, I went online. I couldn’t even find one on e-Bay. I tried Amazon and got the same results. In desperation I looked at Craigslist and you know what? Nothing. Not giving up I did find one after scouring newspapers from several different cities.
In Miami, Florida a telescope was listed for three hundred and fifty dollars. When I looked up the model number and brand if found it originally sold for sixty-nine dollars. This is reminiscent of the run on ammunition a few years ago just before congress decided to play with the gun laws. Ammunition that cost twenty dollars was suddenly showing up at a hundred dollars.
I did pass on the Miami telescope but I would imagine if I wait just a little longer, I can find a better one that costs around two hundred dollars. Of cours
e the owner will be asking two THOUSAND for it by then.
I am proud to be an American, don’t get me wrong, but sometimes I just have to marvel at the stupidity. This is Allen Small; Goodnight.
**
Abby knew she should be working but decided, all work and no fun was not always a good thing. She had spent the afternoon with Dan showing him how the telescope worked and watched as his eyes lit up when he actually got to see KA5.
“That thing is huge. I mean, I knew it was big but until you actually see it…it’s huge.”
“Amazing isn’t it?”
“Amazing and frightening. If that hit the Earth it would wipe everything off the planet. We would go the way of the dinosaurs,” Dan said wide-eyed.
“Yes we would. No way could Earth survive a direct hit from something that size and survive. Actually, it couldn’t even survive a glancing blow. It would certainly be the end of mankind as we know it. There would be a good chance that it would even knock the Earth out of its orbit.”
“I don’t think anyone in Washington understands the magnitude of what you are talking about here. I honestly thought it was just one of those things that scientist got excited about and didn’t really mean much to the rest of us,” Dan said.
“Gee thanks a lot,” Abby replied.
“You know what I mean. Come on. The Mars Rover finds something that once may have been water and everyone goes nuts. There was once life on Mars people start saying. No, we are actually Martians someone else says. A few months later, no one cares except scientists. I’m not saying it isn’t important but to the average Joe Blow on the streets if doesn’t help him in a way he can see in his everyday life.” Dan replied.
While not particularly flattering, he did have a point. Scientists did have a tendency to live in their own little abstract world. Was she like that? Probably, Abby decided.
“When do you need to head back to Washington,” she asked as she was showing him around the campus.
“I don’t have a departure time scheduled. I will have to let them know when I want to go back.”
“You came on your own airplane?”
“Not mine. Uncle Sam’s.”
“Look Dan, I’m not very good at this. Would you like to have a bite to eat before you go back?” Abby said blushing.
“Actually, I was going to ask if it was okay if I invited you to dinner,” Dan replied.
“Damn, I should have waited a little longer,” Abby said.
“The only reason I didn’t ask earlier was that truthfully I am just a tad intimidated by you,” Dan said.
“Me? Whatever for? Why would I intimidate anyone?” Abby asked astonished.
“You’re so damn smart. You put that with looks like yours and it’s a pretty intimidating package.”
“And here I was trying to watch my step with you. You talk directly to the President of the United States. Talk about intimidation,” Abby replied.
“Well then, if we are over intimidating each other, I guess we can have dinner and enjoy each other’s company.”
“Now that sounds like an excellent plan Dan Fowler.”
“Yes it does Abby Montgomery.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
CNN NEWS SPECIAL REPORT –
Doctor Abraham Lindquist of the Darden-Leggit Observatory in Idaho announced today that his team now believes the asteroid KA5 will pass closer to the sun than Earth.
Doctor Lindquist announced their findings at the observatory during a news conference earlier today. Lindquist, along with members of his team, outlined the flight path of KA5 and according to their findings the huge asteroid will not come closer than 450,000 miles from Earth.
“Earlier calculations did not take into account several factors and have been grossly miscalculated,” Lindquist told reporters.
He went on to say that the calculations were based on the gravitational forces of Jupiter and Saturn and even Mars to some extent. His team feels that far too much deviation is being factored into the projected path.
He added, “We will be able to observe KA5 from Earth but it poses absolutely no threat. It will be almost twice the distance from us as our moon. It will most likely have a very small impact on tides for a short time, but once it passes Earth, it will no longer affect us and will spin off into outer space.
When asked about the possibility of it being pulled into the sun he dismissed the idea saying, “no more so than Venus or Mercury being pulled into the sun.”
If Doctor Lindquist is correct, we can all breathe a little easier.
**
Abby had introduced Dan to her entire team and he spent over an hour just talking to them about what they wanted to do with their lives and what it was like to work on such a monumental project.
They quickly warmed up to him as he sat on the floor with his legs crossed talking to them. Abby was amused at Ruth. She kept inching closer to Dan as they all sat there and talked. It was obvious she was smitten with him, but she could hardly blame the girl. Just so she didn’t get too friendly.
She stopped and did the V8 thing with her forehead mentally. What was she thinking? She didn’t really know one thing about Dan Fowler and here she was starting to get protective. She needed to have a long talk with herself, she decided.
“Nice group of young men and women,” Dan had commented as they were leaving.
“They are aren’t they? James is a hoot isn’t he?”
“Definitely a corker. They certainly seem to get along well as a group. I didn’t notice any egos getting in the way and that is pretty unusual with eggheads.”
“Eggheads? Eggheads. Well Mr. Fowler, we can’t all be Neanderthal men,” she shot back.
“Neanderthal? Do I look like I have a club? If I did, I would conk you over the head with it,” he replied.
“And then what? Drag me back to your cave?”
They both stopped and looked at each other. She was slightly smirking and he was at a loss for words. He was trying not to say the wrong thing. It was kind of like when a woman asks if she looks fat in a dress. If the man says yes, he is cooked, if he says no, he’s lying.
“I haven’t picked out a cave I like yet,” he finally answered and they both laughed.
“Okay, you dodged that pretty well.”
“Yes, Yes I did,” he said.
“So, what would you like for dinner? Anything your favorite?” Abby asked.
“I’m easy to please. Just about anything is good for me,” Dan answered.
“Sushi,” she asked.
“Well…I kind of like my seafood cooked. I mean if I wanted sushi I would just go to a pet store and stick my head in a fish tank,” Dan replied.
“Thank goodness. I can’t understand the attraction. Paying for a bunch of raw fish just seems wrong on every level,” Abby replied.
“How about something Southwestern? Washington isn’t exactly the Mexican food capital of the world.”
“Great. I know a really good restaurant. It isn’t classy at all but the food is the best in the city. I just hope more people don’t find out about it and it goes big time,” she informed him.
“Then that’s sounds great to me.”
They went in Abby’s car rather than Dan’s rental since she knew the way and the city. Even though it wasn’t all that far from the campus it took almost forty-five minutes to get there with the traffic.
“Wasn’t that horrible?” Abby asked as she was locking her briefcase in the trunk of the car.
“What?”
“The traffic.”
“Oh. Is that what you call traffic? I sometimes have time to read ‘War and Peace’ waiting for traffic in D.C.” he told her.
“Do not.”
“Okay, just the old testament of the Bible. I always get lost on Numbers,” he quipped.
“Very funny. Now, I said it was kind of a dive but just don’t think of the décor and wait until you taste the food,”
“You have a deal.”
True to her word, i
t wasn’t much to look at but Dan had certainly eaten in worse. Much worse. But she had been dead on about the food. It was some of the best he had ever had. He seldom ever drank beer but this time he had three Coronas with lime. Abby had two Margaritas with salted rim and was just a little giddy by the time she finished her second one.
They were still talking after the place had filled up and emptied out again. Abby was surprised at how much she had shared with a man she hardly knew but he was so easy to talk to. He was fun and could make her laugh without having to try. She tried to pay for the dinner but Dan was having none of that and told her it would be a reimbursable expense. She doubted that was the truth but let his male ego do what it had to do.
“Dan, I think it would be better if you drove. I’m not sure I’m the right person at the moment,” she said.
“Well, I’ve had three beers which is way more than normal. I mean I could drive but if we got stopped, we could land in the lock-up and that wouldn’t be good. Why don’t we take a cab back to the University? We can talk a little more, drink some coffee or whatever you have and then we can come back in my car and get yours.”
“Coffee won’t help. The only way to get alcohol out of your system is with time. Nothing else will do it. Cold showers, coffee, and walking are all old wife tales,” she said.
“Then we will just spend some more time together.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
They were sitting on the floor again with their backs against the wall. Abby was humming and Dan was checking his PDA to see what he needed to rearrange tomorrow since it was obvious he was not going to make it back on time for his first appointment.
“Dan.”
“Yeah Abby.”
“May I ask if you are married?”
“You certainly may,” He said.
She just looked at him.
“Oh, you are asking. No, I’m not. I was once a long time ago but it’s hard being in the military. You are always being uprooted and gone for long periods of time.”
“I don’t want the details, I was just wondering. I saw you didn’t have a ring on but men do that when they are out of town sometimes.”
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