Work in Progress

Chapter 2

         The admiral rapped sharply twice on Mike's door.
         "Come," was the reply.
         As he opened the door, Admiral Teramore saw Mike sitting behind his desk.  In his peripheral vision, he could also observe the rubber-tipped ends of a dozen pencils dangling from the acoustic tiles in the ceiling.
         "Been keeping you busy, I see," Teramore said with a grin.
         Mike made a sour face.  "I requisitioned two new MiGs a month ago for our new conscripts.  It's still stuck in committee.  These guys are the best I've seen and they're getting antsy to practice in the real thing instead of the trainers."
         "Why not let them up in one of the other birds?"
         "You know that the AI imprints on the pilot.  Once the computer and pilot train together, they are inseparable."
         "I know, but can't you put a dummy in one of those?"
         "If I did that, these stupid bean counters would expect interchangeable parts.  You know that I customize each of these planes with the pilots to get the maximum from each partner."
         "I know.  But can't you set up a couple to be neutered just to get these guys in the air?"
         "You know it doesn't work that way.  I'm not going to short-change them.  So far they've aced all of the exercises in the trainers.  Misha tells me they're good.  From him, that means they're the best we've got.  I want them matched with a machine as soon as possible.  I already have the AIs, the engines, and the interfaces built.  I need the aircraft!"
         Admiral Teramore grinned.  "Welcome to the wonderful world of military procurement."
         Mike made another sour face.  "I should have taken President Forest up on his accusation of wanting to start my own government.  At least I'd have things done in a timely fashion."
         The admiral shrugged.  "Maybe, maybe not.  All organizations get top heavy eventually."
         "Mine don't.  When there's too much concentration, I diversify and spread the talent.  Here, everyone is too busy trying to entrench in their own cubbyhole to see what's really going on."
         "Like I said, welcome to the wonderful world..."
         "I don't want to hear it!" Mike barked.  "You, Mikhail, and I have built a team the likes of which doesn't exist anywhere else on this planet.  They want planetary defense, I've got your planetary defense right here; I just need the hardware.  I'm up to my rear waiting for committees to debate a requisition into the ground so that I can let my people do what they do best.  I'm ready to buy the two MiGs out of my pocket, just so we can move on!  I've got guys standing by to install the special gear just so that we can do what we're supposed to do."
         "Yeah, I know," the admiral shrugged again.  "The farther I advanced, the more frustrated I got.  When I was a damn second louie, the only frustration I had was you.  By the time I made commander, I was tackling the entire system.  You bypassed all of that and ignored all of the rest of us doing your own thing.  Now you're sucked into the system.  Hello real world!"
         "Take your real world and..."
         "Hey.  You accepted the job."
         "Yeah.  I thought I could become part of the solution, but I'm becoming part of the problem."
         The admiral gave a wide smile.  "You don't know how redeeming that is for me to hear, especially from you."
         Mike picked up an unopened box of pencils and tossed them at the admiral who dodged it as he opened the office door and exited.
         
         "Mr. Angel?" came the voice over the intercom.
         "Mike."
         "Uh, Mike, we have detected a potential problem," the voice continued.
         "I'd like to find out who I'm talking to."
         "Sorry sir!  This is airman first class Anderson at Norad.  We've just received an alert from the Lowell Observatory that there's a potential threat to the Earth from a space object."
         "What, we've got another piece of space junk headed for New York?"
         "No sir.  We've got a mountain about half the size of Rhode Island headed straight at us."
         "Where's it going to hit?"
         "As they explained it to me, sir, it doesn't matter.  It will destroy all life on Earth, including insects."
         "Crud!  FAX me all of the data you have.  I need to assemble my team."
         "Already have, sir.  It should be off your machine now.
         "Thanks.  When do they predict potential impact?"
         "Three weeks, sir."
         "What!  With all of the observatories we've got searching the sky, I'd expect a little more lead time."
         "I was told this just dropped out of the asteroid belt recently.  It took them this time to predict its trajectory."
         "Thank you airman; I've got some scrambling to do," Mike said as he pressed another button on the phone.
         "Misha," he said when the connection was made. "Where's Carol?"
         "She's finishing up some lectures at Georgia Tech.  Why?"
          "I need her."
         "When?"
         "This afternoon."  Mike continued to explain the situation.
         "Oh Lord," Mikhail replied. "I'll call her right now and take a shuttle off to pick her up."
         "Good.  I hope her mother will be there, too.  Pick them both up at Hartsfield."
         "Will do.  I'll be there in an hour."
         "Fabulous General.  I have a couple of calls to make."
         "OK.  I'll make some calls too."
         Mike pressed another button and began dialing.
         "Sharon.  Want the story of your career?"
         "Sure," the journalist and Carol's mother replied. "When are you starting Armageddon?" she jibed at Mike.
         "In about 3 weeks, if we don't do something."
         "What?"
         Mike explained the situation to her in a few sentences.
         "I'll be out there on the first flight!"
         "Don't bother.  Misha's on his way to pick up Carol.  Meet him at Hartsfield in about an hour."
         Mike hung up and then dialed another number.
         "Oksana.  Where are you at?"
         "I'm in Nizhniy.  I'm just finishing up some programming changes on the lasers.  What's up?"
         "I need your engineering expertise.  I'll meet you on the roof in an hour."
         Mike hung up and stood.  He pulled a cell phone from his pocket as he made his way out of the office.
         "Vesna?"
         "All systems are warmed up and ready to go."
         "I really wish you'd stop eavesdropping on everything I do."
         "Why?  Think of how dull everything would be.  I've already called Lana to be ready at Sheremetyevo."
         "I'll be out there in 30 minutes," Mike growled and disconnected.
         
         Vesna lifted silently from the tarmac of Nellis Air Force Base and quickly disappeared into the clear sky of Nevada.  The AI computer that was Vesna was fully capable of piloting and navigating, but on complex missions, Mike preferred the experience and judgment Mikhail to pilot manually and Carol to navigate.
         Once out of Earth's atmosphere, Vesna accelerated so that they began descent over Nizhny Novgorod 20 minutes after liftoff.
         "You've been taking lessons from General Gerasov, I see."
         "I just wanted to show you that he's not the only one who likes to go fast," came the reply from the speakers.
         "The two of you will be the death of me yet!"
         Chirp.
         "And don't doggone chirp at me, either!"
         Chirp.
         "Next time, I'll drive!"
         "And I can disconnect manual control!"
         Oksana was waiting on the roof of Mike's Russian manufacturing facility.  Mike had originally picked her randomly out of a crowd to accompany them on Vesna's maiden voyage to Mars to balance out the nationalities of the crew after John Belisar had stowed away.  He had been so impressed with her skills that he immediately hired her after graduation and sponsored her for her PhD.  She was now chief engineer for all of Divine Enterprises, as well as having a packed schedule of lectures at the St. Petersburg State University.
         "Hello Doctor.  I'm glad you're interested," Mike said as Oksana entered the command deck.
         Oksana's eyes flashed.  "If you ever call me that again, I'll return the favor!" She got a devilish look on her face. "I know you have more degrees than I do and I know how much you like being called that!"
         "Touché."
         "How have you been Vesna?  I haven't seen you in almost three months."
         "As well as can be expected having to tolerate Mike."
         Oksana looked around the spacious command center.  "I thought John would be with you."
         "I haven't talked to him yet," Mike replied.  "I'm certain we're going to need him for this problem, but he just has to travel over from Arizona.  By the way, when are the two of you getting married?"
         Oksana blushed deeply and looked at the floor.  "He hasn't asked yet."
         John Belisar, now Dr. John Belisar, was working with the Hopi Nation at Second Mesa in Arizona after following in his father's footsteps and graduating cum laude from St. Petersburg State University in anthropology.  John had fallen in love with Oksana on the Martian voyage that he'd stowed away on, but had waited almost 10 years to ask her father's permission to officially court the woman.
         "I'm going to have to break out my cattle-prod!"
         Oksana blushed again as she took her seat at the engineer's console.
         Vesna had taken off again as soon as the airlock had closed and they descended over Sheremetyevo Dva 10 minutes later.
         "Hello love," Lana said as she entered the command deck.  "I'm finally going to scoop Sharon on a story!"
         "She's already on her way back to Nellis with Misha."
         Lana smacked him playfully on the shoulder as she took her seat next to her husband. "No loyalty whatsoever!  I should have known."
         "Share and share alike."
         "Not when there's a story like the end of the world there isn't!"  Mike dodged the slap to the back of his head as Vesna's monitors were already beginning to display the black of space.
         
         "Alright, What's happening?" Admiral Teramore asked those around the table.
         Mike passed out copies of the FAX he'd received earlier.
         "Basically," Mike started, "we've got a mountain the size of Everest headed in our direction."
         "Where will it impact?" Sharon asked.
         "Doesn't matter.  We're all toast anyway."
         "Can't we send up the fighters and blast it out of space?" Misha asked.
         "Two problems, " Mike replied.  "Their weapons are meant for smaller targets, so the best they could do is whittle away at it.  Second problem is that the pieces would still be coming our way."
         "How about having Galactica create a singularity and squash it?" Carol chipped in.
         Oksana turned white.  "The inertia would keep it on the same course.  Think what the sudden addition of several hundred million metric tons of mass to the Earth would do.  Even if it were the size of a grapefruit it would probably knock the Earth out of orbit.  I think we'd be better off doing what we do with Vesna; create a black hole and pull it out of its course.  We can then aim it at the sun to get rid of it once and for all."
         "That's why I like engineers," Mike smiled. "You come up with simple solutions to complex problems."
         Oksana blushed and looked at her hands.
         "I've got one more piece of business to attend to," Mike said as he pulled the telephone closer and put it on speaker before dialing several numbers.
         "John Belisar." Everyone heard from the phone.  Oksana's eyes got like saucers and a broad grin crossed her face.
         "Hey Doc," Mike said.  "Interested in saving the world?"
         "Sure, why not?"  There was an obvious smile in the young man's voice.  "What's up?"
         "We've got an asteroid the size of Rhode Island coming our way."
         "Holy...  When do we do this?"
         "Well, we've got three weeks, but I'd like to take care of this tomorrow.  How fast can you get here?"
         I can be there in about 6 hours.  Why haven't I heard about this on the news?"
         "Because the only two journalists who know about it are sitting here with me."
         "Hi John!" Lana and Sharon said in unison.
         "Hi there!  Will Oksana be there?"
         "Hello John," Oksana said.
         "I can be there in four hours!"
         "I'll have you cleared at the gate.  We'll see you this afternoon."  Mike hung the phone up.
         "Now that we have a plan and a crew, I think you ladies can begin writing your preliminary releases."
         "Is it wise to tell the world there's a possibility they'll all be dead in three weeks?" Admiral Teramore queried.
         "Why not?  I don't do secrets remember?  I personally think it will give the world a warm fuzzy that we're on the job and have a plan.  The U.N. will realize that their money isn't going down a rat hole and maybe they'll free some up so I can get the ships I need."
         "May Carol and I go out to Vesna?" Oksana asked.  "There are some things I need to check on."
         "Yes," Carol chimed in.  I need to run some trajectories and Vesna's the best there is."
         "For God's sake, don't tell her that!" Mike feigned horror.  "She's bad enough already."
         Both girls giggled and everyone left the conference room.




Ben W. Gardner
Sedona, Arizona

"I do not fear computers. I fear lack of them." --Isaac Asimov

http://ca.geocities.com/vladilyich/

In The Beginning - ISBN:  1-4116-3848-4
Just In Time - ISBN 1-4116-3851-4
Ad Astra - ISBN: 978-1-84728-518-8
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