Jill flicked her thoughts back to the weekend, which had turned out to be very eventful. Apart from the fact that she could not get a hold of Khan. Period. His phone was off and he would not return her voicemails. Jill began to suspect that maybe he was screwing around after all. Although, she had to admit to herself that it was her idea to have the cooling off period. But she had been desperate to tell Khan he was going to be a father. Maybe she should leave things for a few more days and then try Khan again. Jill then patted the small bump on her abdomen.
“Ah’m sure that your daddy will be delighted to hear that you’re on the way –“
The Saturday afternoon had been like a blur. Ewan and Gary had arrived at the door of her 7th floor flat at Kew about three, after taking the express train down from Edinburgh. She had asked how the journey had been and Ewan answered first.
“The Royal Scot was bang on time –“
Gary interjected.
“Ah beg to differ, Ewan, but I think you will find it is called the Royal Scotsman!”
As the two boys looked quizzically at each other Jill intervened.
“Well, guys, whether it is the Royal Scot or the Royal Scotsman, it seems to run a lot better than the trains do down here in London. Now come on in out of the cold -”
Gary put a finger to his lips and held up his laptop, which had a CGI cartoon of a bloodhound sniffing around the screen. Jill thought, Gary’s got his bloody Bloodhound programme running again! Gary indicated for Jill and Ewan to stay at the front door and he went into the flat holding up the detector equipment attached by USB to his laptop. He came back in about three minutes and signalled for them to step out into the ice-cold landing. Jill only had a short-sleeved top on and she shivered out on the landing.
“Jesus, Gary, ah’m freezin’ my nuts off out here!”
Gary smiled back.
“Ah’m afraid to tell ye, Jill, but you don’t have any nuts! Anyway, Bloodhound has detected a bugging device in your flat…”
Jill was flabbergasted.
“What! Someone’s bugging us?”
Ewan was horrified.
“Oh, my God - we’ve been sussed out, Gary?!”
Gary was circumspect in his reply.
“Calm down, Ewan. They’re no onto us yet. Firstly, NASA is unlikely to know that we would come here, are they? And secondly, it is a fairly cheapish bug. You could pick it up in any High Street electrical store. NASA would be much more sophisticated. No, ah’m sorry to say Jill, but someone’s bugging you!”
“Me-e-e!”
Jill scratched her brain trying to think who would want to bug her. It could be any one of a dozen lowlifes that she had investigated recently. It could be Nesto Petrianni. His case was still to come before the courts and he would be desperate for any information on the whereabouts of Dinky Budge. Then a horrible thought struck Jill. Would Khan try to bug me? But, why would Khan want to do that? She tried to put that thought way out of her mind. Gary had suggested that they go to a local pub and Jill went and grabbed a coat and her bag. They went to the nearby Botanist on the Green. It was busy and noisy and it was showing a live football match, Arsenal versus Manchester United. As they sat down with their drinks around a small table in the corner, Jill looked at Gary just as Manchester United scored the first goal to load groans and muted cheers from the punters.
“Well, ah take it Bloodhound comes first?”
Gary looked back at the noisy crowd watching TV.
“Don’t need to, Jill, it’s too noisy in here for a successful buggin’.”
As they sipped their cold beers, Ewan related his findings to Jill. He began with the original email from Ari Schenkler, the 2’ 11” of Nimrod’s footage which identified Schenkler’s Comet, the boys’ trip to Islay and the visit to the putrid smelling CORSAIR on the Mull of Oa, right up to his latest findings and conclusions. Apart from having a good laugh at trying to imagine them in their plastic coveralls in the foul-smelling observatory, Jill for the most part sat open-mouthed at Ewan’s story. Jill thought that it was too fantastic to believe.
“…And are you positive that this Schenkler guy corroborated all your findings, Ewan?”
“Absolutely, Jill – I wish he hadn’t!”
Gary butted in to the conversation.
“Ari worked on it all last night. He emailed his, ahem, NASA colleague this morning before we left Edinburgh.”
Gary pointed his elbow at Ewan, Ari’s ‘NASA colleague’. The three of them discussed how they were best going to handle it. Gary agreed to get all the data passed to the Leaks websites on the Sunday. Jill would prime up Buckley and work on her article to hit the home page of the Times as a world exclusive on the Monday morning, citing the Leaks sites as the main source of their information. Gary warned Jill to be careful.
“Remember, Jill – don’t contact Buckley or anyone else from your flat because of the bug.”
“Oh, God – ah’d forgotten about that. Can you no get rid of it?”
Gary thought pensively.
“Well, ah’m pretty sure it’s no NASA. But just in case it is them playin’ cute, ah’d leave it there until after the story breaks. We don’t want to alert anyone just now, do we?”
The football match had just finished. Manchester United had held on for a slim 1-0 victory over the Arsenal. The three of them finished their drinks and Ewan and Gary packed up to head back to Kings Cross for the six o’clock train back to Edinburgh. As the two boys were walking away from Jill at Kew Station she shouted after them.
“Oh, guys, ah nearly forgot. Ah think ah can guarantee you a bumper payday for your story.”
Ewan looked back and shouted as they walked away.
“Oh, yeah - and what are we going to need the money for?”
Jill looked slightly perplexed at Ewan and Gary disappearing down the underpass at Kew Station – and then Ewan’s words dawned on her. Ewan’s words still haunted Jill as she sat at her desk.
“…Penny for your thoughts?”
Jill looked around and saw Ruthie standing smiling just outside her workstation. Ruthie looked her usual upbeat self.
“I’ve spoken with my mom and she has agreed to do your amnio at 15 weeks, Jill.”
Jill thought about her baby and a horrible shudder ran through her body. Oh, my poor baby! Imagine bringing a child into such a terrible world.
“Tha-at’s great, Ruthie.”
“Are you okay, Jill, you look a bit pale?”
“Just morning sickness, ah guess. Actually, ah’m looking for that buckin’ gaffer of ours.”
Ruthie pointed towards Buckley’s office.
“I think he just got back five minutes ago…”
Jill dashed past the stunned Ruthie who thought that maybe she was off to the restroom to be sick. Jill knocked but then crashed straight into William J Buckley’s office. He was talking to his News Editor.
“Mr Buckley – ah need a word!”
Buckley nodded for his News Editor to leave the room and indicated for Jill to sit down.
“Jill –“
“Look, Buck, what the fuck is going on here. Ah have just written the story of the fuckin’ century and ah then find that you authorised a pull on it. What the hell…!”
“JILL! Shut the fuck up!”
They both sat glaring at each other momentarily and then Buckley spoke back in calming tones to his seething journalist.
“Look, Jill, I have just come back from 10 Downing Street. I have been with the Prime Minister at meetings all morning. Jill, this is fucking huge. Monumental! Ralston has asked us to sit on this until they can assess the situation. You know – release it in a controlled manner. He says that you will still get first exclusive on this thing –“
“…but what about the Leak websites, Buck?”
“Ralston has asked them to sit on it to
o, but that they will also get their right to publish in time. They all agreed.”
Jill looked aghast at Buckley. Instinctively, she put protective hands on her unborn child.
“Oh, God, Buck…!”
“What is it Jill?”
“Ewan’s story – it’s completely true, isn’t it?”
*
Earthdate: 16:09 Monday February 17, 2081 IST
The front door of their neat little house on the outskirts of Tel Aviv opened and an unusually chill afternoon wind swept in. Ari walked in looking deeply worried and Ava, his raven-haired Sabra wife immediately looked concerned.
“Ari, what are you doing home so early from work? Was the presentation that bad?”
Ari shut the door and strode across the room to Ava.
“Hold me, Ava, hold me and never let me go!”
The two of them stood hugging and crying. Ava did not even know why she was crying.
“Ava, I don’t know why I’m asking this, but I feel it is just important at this particular moment in time –“
“What, Ari?”
“Let’s make a baby – right now!”
“But, Ari, I thought that we were going to hold off –“
“No holding off, Ava, now is the time!”
They had made love gently and passionately. Before Ava fell asleep she did remind Ari that she was still on the pill and that this copulation would not result in a baby. She promised Ari that she would come off the pill. Ava had always dreamed of them having a child. Ari could not sleep as they lay on the bed together in the early evening. He could not get this afternoon’s meeting out of his head. He had spent all Friday night working on the data that Beth O’Donnell from NASA had sent him. He had actually wondered who Beth O’Donnell was. Ari could not think of ever having met her. After going over the information at least three times he could only draw the same conclusions as O’Donnell. He emailed O’Donnell as agreed early on the Saturday morning. When he had not received a reply by the Monday morning he had made up his mind what he intended to do. At two o’clock on Monday afternoon they all filed through a glass door into the small windowless room, after having finishing their coffees in the INSACC Center Director’s office. The five men from NASA’s Nimrod team, the Center Director, Yosep Goldenheim, Ari, Jerzy, Rebecca and Noam: they all sat around the table in the room except for Ari who stood by the computerised whiteboard in order to conduct the presentation. The Center Director nodded for Yosep to begin.
“Gentlemen, we have all done our introductions over coffee. Anyway, we are all reasonably well acquainted with each other. As you know - today’s presentation - to be conducted by Ari Schenkler - will cover the proposed 2082 Operational and Financial Plan for the Nimrod Space Hunter 2 project. It will concentrate in detail on the options to make significant and effective savings in next year’s project. So without further adieu I will hand the presentation over to Ari. Okay, Ari?”
Ari looked around at the men sitting expectantly in the room and he felt his throat constrict. He picked up the glass of water sitting beside the laptop, which had the presentation loaded and ready to roll. He sipped the water to ease his tight nervous throat and then he began, pointing limply at the whiteboard.
“Gentlemen, as you can see the, ah, idea had been to give you the, ah, 2082 project plan presentation today. However, ah…”
He looked at Goldenheim who was looking bewildered at Ari’s stumbling start and Yosep had rolled his hand to indicate to Ari to crank up the presentation. Ari had to go for it.
“However, ah, I actually intend to wind things forward a further two years to 2084. In fact, the 28th of May 2084…”
Goldenheim angrily interrupted and looked apologetically at the NASA team.
“Gentlemen, I think that Ari’s had a little too much coffee this morning as his presentation has strayed off base –“
The NASA Project Director, Aaron Eckler, held up his hand to stop Goldenheim.
“Yosep, I am prepared to give Ari a little bit of leeway here. Let him continue.”
At the same time, Eckler also waved his hand at the glass door and a young woman entered the room and sat down behind Eckler. Goldenheim was now completely lost and bewildered.
“Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on here? Who in hell is this?”
Eckler looked back at his female colleague.
“That is not important for the moment, Yosep. What is important is what Ari wants to say. Please continue Ari?”
Ari gulped in a bucketful of air and blew it out loudly before continuing.
“I need to start with the errant two minutes and eleven seconds of Nimrod footage taken on the 21st of January this year…”
Goldenheim completely lost the plot.
“Oh, for God’s sake – is this what this is all about? Some sort of grovelling apology? Ari, we’ve been through all of this before!”
Eckler was just as angry but with more control in his voice.
“GOLDENHEIM - shut up and just listen, will you!”
Ari was waved on to continue by Eckler.
“…It turns out that the footage contained some of the most important photographs ever taken by mankind. The footage was sent back to me by someone at NASA for my investigation, in conjunction with more detailed footage shot by NASA, a computer generated CGI model and NASA’s calculations, report and conclusions. I have examined all the data available and I have come to the same extraordinary conclusions as NASA…”
Eckler looked back quizzically at the woman behind him and she shook her head in the negative. Eckler looked back at Ari.
“Please continue, Ari.”
“The footage identifies a brand new comet which has entered the solar system in the same quadrant as Pluto. My guess is that it is debris from an exploded planet or moon from out of the star system Andromeda. I have named this new comet Har Meggido –“
Goldenheim could not help himself from interrupting.
“Har Meggido - the Hill of Meggido? Why?”
Eckler spoke first.
“We’ve been calling it Messiah 2, Ari!”
Goldenheim’s head was spinning.
“MEGIDDO! MESSIAH! Will someone please explain what the hell is going on?”
Ari now spoke with slow control and confidence.
“Well, Yosep, you and I as Jews are not so familiar with the Christian’s New Testament, but it is written in their book of Revelations: Then they gathered the kings together to the place that in Hebrew is called Armageddon! Har Megiddo, as you and I know Yosep, is the Jewish origin of the word Armageddon. I am also guessing, Mr Eckler, that Messiah 2 is a feeble joke for the Second Coming?”
Eckler nodded with a gruesome grin on his face. Ari looked at all the pale faces before him. They are all hoping that I don’t say this, he thought, but Pandora was now out of the box.
“On the 28th of May 2084 the Har Meggido, ah, Messiah 2 comet, which is around one and half times the size of Pluto, will make contact with planet Earth in a catastrophic collision.”
The room fell into a deathly silence. The astrophysicists all sat quietly trying to calculate the fatal consequences in their heads. Eckler broke the silence with a more mundane down to Earth question than Ari had been expecting.
“Ari, we concur with your findings. We have been working on it for a couple of weeks now. But the NASA data – which colleague did you say you got it from?”
“I don’t actually know her as a colleague. On the email she was named Beth O’Donnell.”
The woman at the back of the room spoke up.
“I am Beth O’Donnell, Ari. It was not me who sent that data to you…”
Goldenheim was struggling to keep up with events.
“Wha-at does all this mean?”
Eckler spoke in a low sinister growl.
�
��It means that an impostor is circulating this data in the world-wide community!”
Ava broke gently into Ari’s thoughts. She had woken up beside him and she snaked sensuously against his naked body. Ava smiled at Ari and fluttered her teasing eyelashes.
“Do you want to eat now, Ari, or do you want to try again for that baby?”
Chapter 13
Earthdate: 20:33 Monday February 17, 2081 CST
Lex felt that his life was in a perpetual state of limbo. First off, the cops had not placed a formal charge on him for the murder of his wife Marna. His lawyer Leo Cagliari had brilliantly and successfully pleaded his case. Although the police had the damning letter written by Marna and they had also found Lex’s handgun at the scene of the crime, plus the cash withdrawals from the ATMs, they had not been able to place Lex at the scene of the crime in Dallas. The police had not been able to produce any CCTV evidence showing Lex either leaving Houston or arriving in Dallas. His electri-car onboard computer had shown no significant mileage on the Wednesday or Thursday, the day of Marna’s murder. The police had not found any record of Lex hiring a vehicle or booking a flight. Furthermore, Lex had reported to Magruder and Madsen that his bank cards were missing or stolen and the police had traced a couple of transactions in Houston, which took place during the times that Lex was being interviewed down at the 3rd Precinct. Lex was going on the supposition that the black hooker must have taken his cards. However, Cagliari reiterated to Lex that he was still the lead suspect in the homicide case and that they desperately needed to find that prostitute. Cagliari had arranged for a private detective, in conjunction with the Houston PD, to try to find the girl. Lex had agreed with his lawyer and the police to leave his credit cards live in order that they could help track down their new ‘owner’. Lex reckoned that by the time Cutie or Cupie, or whatever she was called, had finished, he would be into a serious overdraft, although he had managed to shift all his real deposits into a non-carded secure savings account. On the basis that the police could not place Kosloff in Dallas or anywhere near it, Cagliari successfully managed to get Lex out on 1 million dollar bail and posted his bail bond. Lex’s second problem was his drinking. With the foul murder of his wife, Lex realised that alcohol had indeed become a real issue in his life. One which he now had to deal with. Walking into the meeting hall the other night was just as hard as facing up to the fact that he was never going to see Marna again. He could not remember the last time that he had been as nervous as when he uttered those eight little words.
2084 The End of Days Page 18
