The Asteroid

by M R Cates

  The Deputy Chief of Staff eventually said, “Dr. Wyler, we'd like as complete a report on the famous asteroid as you are now able to give us. As you certainly understand, there are possible implications of your discoveries that may be related directly to the responsibilities of the U.S. Executive Department.”

  Charlotte McKnight added, “We appreciate that you have been quite cautious in how much you have told the news media, and that a number of aspects may be unclear. But we want your best understanding and opinions. Everything said here is in confidence.”

  “Yes,” Carstairs seconded, “we certainly won't expect to hold you or the observatory staff to any ideas or opinions you have. Our job is to evaluate the event with respect to any possible concern for the federal government, and in fact for the people of the United States.”

  “I'll certainly tell you all we know at this point,” Wyler said with a nod.

  “We had heard that Dr. Hughes might also come,” Charlotte McKnight said, sounding a little disappointed.

  “She chose to ... well, to continue observing the asteroid,” Wyler explained. “But I can call Dr. Hughes to fill in details you may have interest in. She also has agreed to phone if anything new transpires with the asteroid. It should be under observation as we speak.”

  “Fair enough,” Carstairs said.

  Wyler took a drink of the coffee, cleared his throat and began. He was fully aware of the news media's reporting on the asteroid and opened his briefcase to retrieve the notes he'd made on what had already been said. He didn't want to misstate anything, especially things that had already been reported. He also took out copies of Sandra's most recent images and passed them around.

  A couple of the group made audible responses to the amazing views. The rocky doughnut was displaying a distinct red along its inside walls and ejecting a long plume of purple plasma that seemed to have materialized from the center of the open area. The plume continued to the edge of the field of view and could be interpreted to go well beyond the area of space that had been imaged.

  “Here are the facts as we know them.” Wyler had notes to refer to. “Dr. Sandra Hughes, one of our leading scientists, began a study to characterize the resolving power of our twin Keck telescopes. She had just completed a long deep-space study and was interested in a change of pace. She ...”

  “Why was Dr. Hughes given this assignment, Dr. Wyler?” The questioner was Andrea Northington.

  “She had written a number of important routines for improving image quality from the telescopes, and had shown herself unusually capable at working with the complexity of the telescope operating systems.”

  “Is she a colleague of yours, sir?” Northington continued. “That is, do you do projects with her yourself?”

  “No, as director, my own experimental work is limited. But I do keep track of the publications and research programs of the staff. Further, we have internal seminars that keep all the scientists informed of the others' activities.”

  “I see. Thank you.” Northington readjusted herself, leaning back a little.

  “So,” continued Wyler, “as part of her study, Dr. Hughes chose to examine a group of asteroids whose orbits she could extract from a standard catalog of objects that have been observed in the solar system. This catalog, for example, has all the various moons of the planets, all the comets we have seen, et cetera, and is added to when new objects are discovered. The catalog includes the mathematical parameters necessary to describe the orbit of the particular object.”

  Carstairs asked why asteroids had been chosen.

  “Dr. Hughes knew that these particular asteroids would be at distances of some millions of miles from earth, and were large enough to be seen clearly by our telescopes. By looking at each she could optimize images to attempt to resolve smaller and smaller features. To explain a little further, these measurements are not as simple as aiming a telescope and seeing what it images. The data are processed to take away atmospheric distortions, comparisons are made between two separate images – made with each of the twin telescopes – and various image analysis routines are applied to unfold the maximum information from the signal data. It is a very complex business – exactly what Dr. Hughes loves to do and is good at.”

  “Then,” Carstairs said, “this asteroid we are all interested in is part of this selected group?”

  “Yes,” said the director, “but when Dr. Hughes looked for it by inputting the known parameters of its orbit, it wasn't there. She then found it, discovering that the asteroid was in a somewhat different orbit than that listed in the catalog and had a hole through its center, making it look like a doughnut – about fifteen miles across.

  “Needless to say, such a shape is extremely unexpected. In fact, we don't know of any way such a shape could have formed naturally unless the interior was somehow blown out in a manner that left the hole. That scenario, in fact, is the most likely explanation both for the doughnut shape and for the fact that the orbit has been shifted – probably four times now.”

  Jackson Armbruster asked, “Now, this was a known asteroid, correct? Why would it suddenly decide to start blowing material out of itself? I mean, it probably has been in orbit a very long time, has it not?”

  Wyler looked uncomfortable. “Yes, that is puzzling. I can't say we know the answer.”

  “This plume of ... of plasma,” Charlotte McKnight said, pointing to the image in her hand, “is that a natural way material might be ejected from a body in space?”

  Wyler sighed. “I don't know, of course. Very strange things occur among the many objects in space, but ...”

  “Tell us more about the four orbital shifts that have noticed,” Carstairs said. “I hadn't realized there were four of them.”

  “Yes. Our best guess is that Dr. Hughes found the asteroid after it had shifted the first time – maybe by the process of blowing a hole through its center. It shifted again after she observed it, and she helped the observatory in Spain to find its new orbit. It shifted another time while she watched it, then – though possibly part of the same series of hot material ejections – shifted so much that it dropped toward a high orbit around earth. This last orbital shift has been followed by the space telescope and the sister observatory in Spain, among a number of other telescopes.”

  “Was that movement into earth orbit, then, an accident, Dr. Wyler?” asked Armbruster.

  “If the asteroid is randomly ejecting material, causing changes in its orbit, then it had to be accidental. As it turned out Asteroid 1744 was near the lowest point of its original orbit, so when it was suddenly accelerated it was thrown toward the earth's gravitational field which has captured it.”

  “Isn't that quite unlikely, even in an accident?” Armbruster continued.

  “I would say so, yes. But it can happen. It did happen, in fact.”

  Carstairs wondered, “Do you expect the asteroid to shift again? I mean, is there anything new about its appearance that might suggest it will become more stable and stop throwing off material?”

  Wyler wrinkled his brow. “I'm not sure, but my guess is that it could continue doing those odd things. It is still in the doughnut shape. Frankly, it is surprising that it hasn't broken up.”

  Carstairs wrote something in a notebook, then looked directly at Wyler. “As you know, many are saying that the events associated with the asteroid indicate that it may be an alien vessel, under control of sentient beings. What is your position on that theory?”

  Wyler shrugged, making himself appear as unruffled as possible. “It is very hard to draw a conclusion like that when there are other logical explanations – however rare or unusual – for the asteroid's behavior.”

  Andrea Worthington asked, “Does the Keck Observatory have any studies underway to investigate the possibility of detecting other forms of sentient life?”

  Wyler shook his head. “We have no such programs. The center of that activity, as you probably know, is in the Very Large Array of radio-telescopes in New Mexico.”<
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  Worthington nodded, as did Carstairs. She continued, saying, “Do you personally believe there are other sentient beings in the universe that we will someday make contact with?”

  “It's not a pet theory of mine, if that's what you're getting at, Ms ... I'm sorry, it's Worthington, correct?”

  “Yes. Not a pet theory? I don't quite understand.”

  “What I mean,” said the director, feeling himself on the edge of a blush, “is that believing in other sentient life forms as a possibility – since the universe is, after all, quite large – is not the same as thinking we are surely about to encounter some of them.”

  “Yes, I understand that.” Worthington tended toward being a little confrontational and Wyler was less than comfortable with her tone. She continued, “So you don't believe we need be concerned about little green men?”

  No one laughed. Wyler hesitated, then said, “I don't discount the possibility that some sentient being may have controlled the asteroid. On the other hand, since we have no history of alien visitations – history that we can believe, at any rate – we must logically surmise some set of natural conditions are the most likely cause of what we have seen.”

  All four feds nodded at the comment. Carstairs asked, “What are the most bizarre aspects of the asteroid's behavior, in your opinion, doctor?”

  “I'd have to say they relate to the ejected plume of material. As you, Ms McKnight, noted, it seems to be a hot plasma. It appeared and continued in a uniform manner for several hours before changing at all.”

  “Can material ejected from an asteroid be that hot and continuous?”

  “Obviously it can,” Wyler said, “because we see it. But for sloughed-off material to suddenly be heated to such temperatures might require some sort of nuclear reaction.”

  “Really? A nuclear reaction?” The question was posed by Jackson Armbruster. “The asteroid, then, would have to contain uranium or some other similar fissile materials.”

  “Yes,” Wyler agreed. “We know, for example, that in a few places on the earth's crust there have been what are called 'natural reactors,' where deposits of uranium moved together through some geological process and began a chain reaction. Uranium or other actinides in an asteroid could similarly begin to react, if, say, the shifting of the material internally brought the fissile material together.”

  Carstairs put a hand to his chin. “Plausible, I suppose. Tell us, Dr. Wyler, is that your expected scenario? Is that what you believe has been happening?”

  “I'm reserving judgment,” said the director. “It has been such an unexpected sequence of events that I am left rather confused, I must say.”

  “Have radio antennas been turned toward the asteroid?” Carstairs asked.

  “Yes. Though not until after the announcement this morning.”

  “Any detected signals?”

  Wyler shook his head. “None as yet. I think that ...” The cell phone in his brief case suddenly rang. “Excuse me, that will be a call from Dr. Hughes. Perhaps she has further information.”

  All eyes turned his way. Wyler felt his pulse accelerate as he activated the phone. “Yes, Sandra?” he said.

  Sandra Hughes' voice was well modulated but full of energy. “Reggie,” she said, without fanfare – and guessing he was in the middle of his meeting – “I hope you're all sitting down.”

  He managed to sound calm enough as he answered, “We are.”

  “Good. Our asteroid is moving continuously to correct its orbit. As you know, it's still a long way from earth – around 14 million miles. I'm following its process. It's moving through a sequence that I compute can bring it to essentially a perfectly circular orbit at 386,000 miles. Can't be coincidence, Reggie. Odds are infinitesimal. Something or someone is controlling 1744.”

  Wyler felt a ringing in his ears. He shook his head, to clear it, then said, “How confident are you, Sandra?”

  “I'd bet my tush on it, Reggie.”

  “I'm with the President's Deputy Chief of Staff at the moment. Does that ... impact your feelings?”

  “Nope. I think we ought to tell them, in fact. Actually, we have to.”

  “I can put you on the speaker phone in here if you are willing.” Wyler couldn't bring himself to make the statement. He wished Sandra no ill will, but figured an astronomer in the thick of the chase would be given more latitude for overstating her case than would the observatory's director. Besides, he wasn't really sure how to say what needed to be said.

  “I'll be glad to, Reggie.” Sandra was nothing if not confident. As she herself said about herself, “Sometimes wrong but never in doubt.”

  “Okay.” He looked up at the group, their attention rapt, and punched in numbers to transfer the cell phone signal to the speaker phone in the room. In a moment the hum of the instrument told them it was ready. “Can you hear me, Dr. Hughes?” he asked, suddenly formal again.

  “Yes, sir,” she said.

  “Dr. Sandra Hughes, I have with me Joseph Carstairs, Deputy Chief-of-Staff of the President, and from his office, Charlotte McKnight, Andrea Northington, and Jackson Armbruster.”

  “Hello,” said Sandra. “Welcome to Hawaii.” Her tone was, to Wyler, amazingly calm, especially considering what she was about to say.

  Wyler said, “Do you mind repeating the information you gave me, Dr. Hughes?”

  “Not at all,” she replied. “It's my assessment,” she said, “that the asteroid we have been studying these last few days is being controlled by something other than random or natural forces. Its present trajectory, shifting from solar to earth orbit, is precisely configured to put it into a perfectly circular orbit. This is a body around fifteen miles wide, and probably – in its toroidal shape – about eight or nine miles thick. We're talking about several hundred cubic miles of material – and even if it were as light as water, billions of tons! And that monster is being controlled with unbelievable precision. The odds that it would randomly drop into a perfectly circular orbit around earth are so small as to be not worth considering.”

  There was a long moment of silence. Carstairs then said, “Have you released this latest information to anyone else, Dr. Hughes?”

  Sandra's voice came back, still clear and confident, “No. I recognize the implications, sir. But it is not information that can be kept under wraps. Every telescope in the world that has enough resolving power is locked on our space doughnut. The conclusions I've drawn will be drawn by anyone else who bothers to think about what we're seeing.”

  “I see your point,” Carstairs said. He was looking at Wyler but obviously included Sandra in his following question. “We will report your conclusions to the President immediately. Are you willing to allow us to quote you in further new releases?” It was quite a gesture of respect on their part, Wyler thought. Sandra had left her impact.

  “If Dr. Wyler agrees, it's fine with me,” Sandra said. “As I said, this is not information to be sat on. It would be like not admitting that an eclipse of the sun had just occurred.”

  Andrea Northington spoke, sounding a little shrill. “Do we all recognize the enormity of Dr. Hughes' conclusions?”

  Sandra spoke for them all, promptly saying, “I suggest we be on our best behavior. That's Big Brother up there and I suspect he's watching us.”

  Chapter 9

  Jefferson Patrick McBrand was the first president of the United States who had ever been in space. His electoral victory twenty months earlier had been by a landslide. As a charismatic political leader, few in American history have been in his league. McBrand's adventure in space had occurred when he was in the Air Force, piloting an Aerospace Orbiter, the new generation of low-earth orbital vehicles that came into use as the original Space Shuttles were phased out. McBrand had piloted five orbital missions, including one that had repaired and upgraded the second generation space telescope. His interest in space, therefore, was clear, and his background as an astronaut was often alluded to as a part of his political persona.

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sp; Jeff – as friends and opponents both called him – McBrand and every other political leader around the world had been blissfully unaware of the approaching asteroid until the news release written mostly by Dr. Sandra Hughes of the Keck Observatory had reached the airwaves. Members of the President's cadre of news observers promptly picked up the story, passing it up the line to the Chief of Staff, Madeleine Vigola. Her decision was made not to inform her boss until more information could be gotten. The meeting in Honolulu had provided that additional information. Official notification of the President took place less than fifteen minutes after Sandra had expressed her opinion to Deputy Chief of Staff Carstairs.

  Carstairs had called Vigola and she had immediately gone to the President's family area in the white house, interrupting his sleep. He went yawning to his office a few minutes later.

  “What time is it in Hawaii?” President McBrand asked her after absorbing the statement.

  “Just after eight o'clock, sir,” replied the Chief of Staff. Vigola was a large woman, in her late forties, with graying dark hair, formal manner and powerful mind.

  “Get this Dr. Sandra Hughes on the phone, would you? I'd like to talk to her.”

  “Yes, sir.” Vigola moved back to the office door, spoke to someone on her staff outside and returned to wait for the phone call.

  Sandra was in her office, alone, now using six different displays to monitor the asteroid. When the astronomer's phone rang she answered it promptly.

  “Yes?”

  “Is this Dr. Sandra Hughes?” asked a male voice.

  “Yes,” she said, shrugging shoulders to herself, since she didn't recognize the voice.

  “Dr. Hughes, this is Wesley Smith from the office of the President. He would like to speak with you.”

  “The President of the United States?” she asked as confirmation.