The Orthogonal Galaxy (22 page)

“
Kath, are you suggesting
what I think you’re suggesting?” The dawn of realization was
setting in for Joram Anders.

“
The thing is going to
destroy half of the Earth, leveling every building it hits, and
crushing every living thing. They’ll be the lucky ones, because
they’ll not even know what hit them. The inhabitants on the other
side, however, will not be so lucky. On land, we’ll see a dust
storm just like we saw on Mars. It will block out the Sun’s rays
for weeks, plummeting temperatures to inhospitable levels and
freezing crops worldwide. On sea, it will wretch sea water miles
into the air. Gravity will force trillions of tons of moisture back
into the oceans, creating global tsunamis that will wash every
coastal area on the planet into the depths of the
oceans.”

Kath’s voice trailed off
into sobs. Joram and Reyd stood rooted to the spot in horror of
Kath’s scenario.

“
The astronauts,” Joram
pointed out. “They lived by going underground.”

“
Sure, you can come back
out of your hole in a few weeks, but what are you going to eat. How
will you keep from freezing in the severely global winter. There
will be no survival.” Kath was devastated.

“
Scientists for a long
time have known there are cycles of mass extinction.” Reyd pointed
out. “Could this be some cyclic radiation event coming from the
black hole that forms the center of our galaxy? Perhaps so much
energy gets sucked into it that the black hole must eventually
belch out a burst of violent energy… kind of like a geyser bursts
out water to relieve it of the pressure build-up of super-heated
water and gasses.”

Trembling violently, Kath
pulled a cell phone out of her purse and began to dial.

“
Who you calling?” Reyd
asked as color continued to flush from his face.

“
Zimmer.”

“
You have Zimmer’s cell
phone number?” Reyd was impressed.

“
It’s on caller ID from
when he called us that first evening, remember?”

“
But didn’t he say he had
something more urgent to attend to.”

Kath’s jaw dropped as she
threw up her hands in despair and shot an irritating and disgusting
glare at her peer. “Urgent?! More urgent?! You id—

“
Professor Zimmer. This is
Kath Mirabelle.”

…

Carlton Zimmer was
escorted into a conference room by Dr. Vurim Gilroy at the Johnson
Space Center in Houston. Gilroy had convened an investigative task
force for the emergency mission that would be required to rescue
the astronauts whose life support system was being quickly
depleted.

“
Carlton, thanks so much
forcoming back so quickly.”

“
Well, I’m glad to assist
in any way I can, Vurim.”

Dispensing with
pleasantries, the NASA program manager got right to business.
“Since we’ve already lost one astronaut this week due to the
bizarre phenomenon, we’d highly value your input as to what we’re
up against. I know that you’ve told us that you really haven’t yet
figured out what we’re dealing with, but you are still the most
knowledgeable, and your opinions will be highly respected among the
entire team I’m sure.

“
Carlton, we don’t want to
lose Boronov and O’Ryan, but we’ll be in even hotter water if we
lose the rescue crew. They’ll be completely vulnerable up there in
the unprotected expanses of space.”

Zimmer paused for a
moment. “Vurim, you’re not suggesting that we might leave those
astronauts up there are you?”

“
No—at least not at the
moment—but we need to consider all of the risks.”

“
If you go to the American
public and tell them that you do not intend to at least attempt to
save the astronauts, there will be outrage.”

“
The rest of the team will
be here in 15 minutes Carlton. Let’s lay everything on the table
then. You’ll recognize most of the members of the team from our
last meeting. However, the director of NASA will also be in
attendance. This thing is out of my hands, Carlton. The ultimate
decision will come from Washington.

“
Can I get you anything to
drink?”

“
A bottle of water will be
fine, thank you.”

Gilroy left Zimmer in the
quiet conference room to gather his thoughts while he went to
collect a bottle of water for his guest, but within a couple of
minutes, others began to convene in the conference room. Zimmer
remembered everyone from the last time he was at Johnson, although
he did not recall most of their names. The atmosphere was slightly
more relaxed this time, considering that the team at least knew
that two of the astronauts were still alive.

As Gilroy returned to the
room, he not only had a bottle of water with him but also a man
Zimmer immediately recognized as the director of NASA. He was
attired in a dark suit, blue tie, and black wingtip shoes. He was
the very appearance of diplomacy and policy making, and Zimmer was
sure to not appreciate his presence at the meeting, simply because
these were the types of people so far removed from scientific
discovery and understanding, yet they were also very crucial in its
funding.

“
Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d
like to introduce all of you to Dr. Marrak Henley, the director of
NASA.” He then went around the table introducing each team member
to the director.

The meeting began at 1:35
AM. There was a general briefing on the situation, and all known
data points were provided. After a 40-minute overview, Gilroy led
the team in a frank discussion about a rescue mission. Launch
windows were mentioned and astronaut availability determined. It
was generally agreed by all that rescuing the astronauts was
extremely feasible, and that well-studied emergency plans were
already in place for just such a rescue. Through the ninety
minutes, Zimmer had been quiet, yet attentive to the discussion
that he thought may be wrapping up, when Henley turned towards the
astrophysicist.

“
Dr. Zimmer, we’ve been
hearing much from the media, from the scientific community about
this yellow beam. We’ve heard enough to believe that it is directly
linked to the Camp Mars disaster as well as to the loss of Ayman
Hardy. When our rescuers get up into the completely unsheltered
expanse of space between Earth and Mars, how can we be certain that
another event does not cause the loss of more astronauts and
resources?”

“
Well that is the question
of the day, right?” Zimmer stood from his seat to create a position
of strength. He began walking slowly along the length of the table.
“I mean, if we can answer that question, it will help us determine
conclusively whether the benefit of the mission is worth the
potential risks. We do not know what the yellow beam is, and we
have not proved that it is related to the destruction of Camp Mars.
However, it is highly reasonable to assume that it is. I can’t give
you my word that this thing will not again attack our inner Solar
System, but here are my thoughts about making the decision to save
the astronauts. First, America will expect—perhaps demand—an
effort. If it fails, will they blame you? Certainly. If you don’t
make the effort, will they blame you? Definitely. There are always
risks involved in manned space exploration, but you have devoted
astronauts who are determined in this effort in spite of those
risks.

“
My guess is that you
already have enough astronauts willing to make the effort that you
could fill three or four teams of rescuers. They will gladly risk
their lives to make the attempt. If you don’t give them the chance,
they will always live with the decision to allow Camp Mars to
become Graveyard Mars. They won’t be able to sleep at night, and
I’m hoping that you wouldn’t be able to sleep either if you make
the decision to not go.”

“
Fair enough,” said Henley
without emotion. “I appreciate your candor and your opinion,
Professor. I was already mostly off the fence in favor of the
mission. Your insight helps convince me that we will go. Dr.
Gilroy, I will expect daily reports between now and launch next
Thursday as to the status of the preparation of the vehicle and its
crew.”

“
Absolutely. I will have
those daily reports to you by 5:00 PM central time.”

“
Well, gentlemen. If
that’s all…”

Zimmer was surprised at
how easily Henley was convinced to run the mission. Emboldened, he
added, “Vurim, if I may add just one more thing before we conclude,
I know that our highest priority is the rescue of the astronauts,
but I think you do yourself and NASA a disservice without looking
ahead.”

“
Looking ahead,
Professor?” Gilroy’s eyes narrowed in curiosity.

“
If we cannot determine
what this beam consists of, we may never know what exactly it did
to destroy the camp. The future of manned space exploration may be
in jeopardy if we cannot comfortably comprehend the forces that can
alter our exploratory efforts.”

“
What do you propose,
professor?”

“
Since we are sending a
crew millions of miles away to rescue the astronauts, why not spend
an extra day or two on a side trip to study this
phenomenon.”

“
I do not feel comfortable
with that idea, Professor,” announced Henley, as the team members
once again took their seats in realization of a drawn-out
discussion. “You’re asking us to fly one of our ships into the beam
that could bear highly destructive forces. This needs to remain
focused as a mission of rescue, not discovery.”

“
I understand that Dr.
Henley. I’m not suggesting that we fly into it, but I believe we
have some ruggedized probes that could be easily deployed from a
distance in order to study the beam close up. Of course, the craft
would keep a safe distance, and I realize that it would come after
the rescue. And… if either Boronov or O’Ryan are in physical or
medical peril, we would scrap the experiments, and rush them back
home.”

“
Define safe distance,
Professor.” Henley continued to press. “Who would be able to
determine with any confidence how close we can get?”

“
The ship would have to
come no closer than it already is approaching. We’ll already be
within 10000 miles of the beam according to our calculations. This
is already a distance which is certainly closer than desired, but
the probes can be launched from the ship and traverse the remainder
of the distance themselves.”

“
Really, Professor,”
dismissed the NASA director. “We simply cannot worry about
experiments when the lives of astronauts are at stake.”

“
I understand your
position, Dr. Henley, but I think it would be prudent to consider
the future. If we can’t identify the beam—if we can’t understand
the physical phenomenon that leveled Camp Mars, then we can no
longer feel comfortable with space exploration in general. We’ll
always be too frightened of the unknown. For the future of NASA and
scientific space exploration in general, we simply must figure out
what this thing is, and to do that, we’re going to have to visit
it. It can’t hurt to add the probes to the payload and spend an
extra day in the orbit of Mars to get them dispensed.”

Dr. Henley weighed
Zimmer’s arguments. If Zimmer was right, then public opinion could
sour on the mission of NASA, and that would put his own job in
jeopardy.

Henley turned towards
Gilroy. “Vurim, we have less than a week to organize the rescue
effort. Would we have time to consider these experiments as
well?”

“
I would need more people,
Joe. My team will be tasked 24/7 with the task of getting the
rescue effort put together before then. But, if there was another
team available who could also work full throttle on the
experimental payload, we might be able to pull it off. Of course,
we’d need your help, Carlton.”

“
You would have my full
attention over the next week on any issues that come up. I need to
return to my research team in California to collect the data and
observations that they have made over the weekend, and with that
data, we will comprise a set of experiments which should help us
figure out what we’re dealing with here.”

After a brief pause,
Gilroy dismissed the meeting, and on the way out of the room,
Zimmer felt a vibration in his coat pocket. He pulled out his cell
phone, looked at the number, but did not instantly recognize it.
“It’s 5:30 AM in California… who would be calling me at this
hour.”

“
Hello, this is Carlton
Zimmer.”

Zimmer answered to hear a
quavering, distraught voice on the other end. “Professor Zimmer.
This is Kath Mirabelle.”

13

“
All rise…”

Paul rose in unison with
the rest of the room, but he didn’t hear anything else from the
court clerk until he took his seat a second after everyone else
had.

“
You may be seated,” the
judge announced as he took his seat. “It looks like the jury is
accounted for. Have you reached a decision, Mr.
Foreman?”

“
We have your
Honor.”

This time, it was Warron
who was more intent on the outcome of the jury, mainly because of
those white-collar laws. He was curious to know if the courts would
implement them to their fullest in this case. As for Joonter, he
figured life in prison was another form of death penalty. At his
age, could he possibly live 20 or 30 years in prison and live to
see parole?